Read My Mind
by LaCoeurdelaMer
Summary: The Crew finds a girl who has a mind of her own and likes people to know it... sometimes. Will her mysteriousness disuade Luffy to have her join his crew? READ AND DRINK MOUNTAIN DEW!
1. What's a Mer?

Ok... seriously now... I have like no writing aura around me anymore. It's all been poisoned by the chlorine! Be happy.

Chapter One

"You mean we have to sail through the island to get to the other village?" Nami asked the man at the docks at the town of Ala Bairt.

"Yes. The village is Ala Cree. You should be able to pick up all your things there and be on your way with fresh supplies. It takes about three to four days to sail through the island."

"Thank you," Nami said and looked down at her map of the island of Ala they were on.

"You're welcome, miss!" he said and started walking away when Nami called out, "Wait!"

"Yes?"

"There's nothing in the middle of this map... just the river?" she asked, pointing to the middle of the map where nothing was drawn but the river. Just the parchment was there.

"Oh... well... the cartographers that went into the middle to map it out... never came back," he said darkly. "Have a nice trip!" he added with a big grin and left with a jolly wave.

As soon as he was among the crowd, "That was weird." Sanji said, taking out a new cigarette and lighting it.

"We'll be fine!" Luffy said with his signature grin on his face. His hand protecting his hand from the wind.

"You've got a lot of confidence on a blank map." Zoro said as he sat on the railing up on the ship, his right leg swinging as it dangled in the air.

"What could possibly be in there that we can't handle?" Luffy said, looking up at Zoro with a smile.

The rest grinned.

"I guess he's right! Let's get the ship ready!" Nami called out.

L-E-A-V-I-N-G-P-O-R-T

The forest that was around the river was spooky, in Usopp's words.

"This place gives me the creeps." he said aloud as he sat on the main deck with Chopper playing checkers.

"It's been an hour." Nami said, looking up from her paper as she sat on the upper deck in a stretched out lawn chair.

A day passed...

"IT'S BEEN A DAY, NAMI!" Usopp cried as he gazed out into the forest still passing.

"Would you shut up? I'm trying to navigate with a blank map!"

"IF ANYONE CAN DO IT YOU CAN!" Sanji cooed loudly, heart in his eye.

"Hey! Look! A lake!" Chopper, who was up in the Crow's Nest, called out.

Nami and Sanji got up and went to the bow for a better look.

"Interesting... this lake isn't on the map? I better draw it in." Nami said, turning back to the table she was sitting at down on the lower deck.

"What do you think of it, Captain?" Sanji asked Luffy, who was sitting in his seat, again. Of course.

"I'm hungry. Saaaaaaaaanji! Can I have some meat?"

"NO! YOU JUST HAD LUNCH!"

"I could go for a snack, Sanji, if you don't mind?" Nami asked, not looking up from her map.

"RIGHT AWAY, NAMI-SAN!" he cried joyfully, speeding into the kitchen blocking the door so Luffy couldn't get in as he yelled, "HEY! THAT'S NOT FAIR! WHY YOU GIVE NAMI FOOD BUT NOT ME!?"

"Idiots." Zoro muttered as the ship suddenly stopped dead in its tracks, causing it to rise slightly in the stern and fall back suddenly.

"What the hell just happened?" Nami cried as she steadied herself on the railing.

"Usopp! Check for damage below deck!" Zoro yelled, pulling himself out of the pile of barrels that fell onto him when the ship stopped.

"Oh. That was weird." Luffy said, standing up from where he landed on the mast.

A terrible scream was emitting from the kitchen as Sanji ran out screaming, holding his left wrist.

"I BURNT MY HAND!" he cried.

"OH NO! WE NEED A DOCTOR!" Chopper cried, hopping down from the Crow's nest and waving his arms about.

"You're the doctor, Chopper." Nami reminded.

"Oh, yeah."

"What happened?" Zoro asked, looking over the railing with Nami, seeing only their reflections in the dark blue water.

"I don't know? Usopp? How's the damage?" Nami asked as Usopp came out from below deck.

"There is none!"

Zoro and Nami exchanged glances.

"None?" the asked together.

L-O-S-T

Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Zoro went ashore leaving Sanji and Chopper behind so Chopper could treat Sanji's hand.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Zoro called to Luffy, who was leading the pack.

"Nope! There's got to be people around here somewhere?" he said back.

"But there's nothing on the map!" Usopp shouted.

"The man said that the cartofers are out here!" Luffy said happily.

"Car_tographers, _Luffy," Nami corrected, "And who said they're alive?"

"Someone's out here! I'm sure of it!" Luffy said, turning back to grin at Nami and tripping over a root in the path.

They continued down the beaten path for another hour at the least. Till they reached the fork in the road.

"Which way should we go?" Usopp asked, switching his head back and forth.

"Let's split up! Zoro, you're with me! Usopp, you go with Nami!" Luffy said and he and Zoro automatically went to the left without another look, or to listen to Nami's yells about how they should stick together.

"OK! IF YOU TWO GET LOST IN THERE WE'RE NOT COMING TO FIND YOU!" Nami screamed and took Usopp's wrist in a vice grip and dragged him down the right path, which lead down a slope while the left path went up one.

S-E-P-A-R-A-T-E-W-A-Y-S

Back at the ship...

"OW!" Sanji yelled.

"Lay still! Stop moving your hand!" Chopper shouted back as he wrapped up Sanji's hand in bandages.

"Why does it hurt so much still?" Sanji shouted, holding his newly bandaged hand close to himself.

"It did look puffy and maybe a little green." Chopper mused as he examined the bandaged hand.

"GREEN!?" Sanji screamed, toppling the little reindeer over.

B-O-R-N-T-O-H-A-N-D-J-I-V-E

Luffy and Zoro trudged up the hill.

"I'm hungry!" Luffy whined loudly.

"I am too! Stop complaining!" Zoro said and looked up, "Oh, there's the top of the hill. Maybe we'll be able to see something up there." he said as they reached the summit.

"I don't see anything." Luffy said, sitting down on a rock and placing his chin in his hands.

Zoro was scanning the vast area only seeing the tops of trees, hills, the ship off in the far distance and smoke coming from a small black clearing.

"You were right, Luffy. There are people here." Zoro said and turned around to see Luffy stretching his arms like a sling shot.

"What are you DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zoro shouted as Luffy propelled himself, and Zoro, into the air off the steep hill and towards the smoke rising in the air.

I-F-I-F-A-L-L-Y-O-U-R-E-G-O-I-N-G-D-O-W-N-W-I-T-H-M-E

Nami and Usopp were at the valley between two big, steep hills. They were standing at a small rushing creek in the dense shade.

"Boy is it humid here." she said, fanning herself with her hand.

Usopp was looking at the blank map.

Suddenly they heard Zoro's screams from high above.

In the opening between some trees they saw Luffy and Zoro soaring through the air and slowly starting to curve into a decent.

"Oh crap!" Nami shouted and she and Usopp took off running towards the spot Nami thought they were going to land.

"What were they thinking?" she yelled as she and Usopp ducked about trees and over rocks and puddles.

"Probably... Luffy's... idea!" Usopp panted as they kept running.

"Idiots!" Nami shouted.

They ran on, slowly starting to go up a small hill where Nami was sure Luffy and Zoro landed, since they landed a few minutes back.

Nami and Usopp ran but stopped when they saw all the angry men with weapons standing at the edge of what looked like a village.

"Looks like the people are unfriendly." Usopp said as Nami peered over their angry heads and into the brightly lit village to see a crowd of women and children around something in, what looked to be, the middle of the village.

"Found Luffy and Zoro." Nami said.

F-A-L-L-R-I-G-H-T-I-N-T-O-P-L-A-C-E

"THAT WAS FUN!" Luffy shouted, bounding up after being out for about three minutes. Scaring all the women and children around him and Zoro.

"Ow... DON'T DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!" he screamed at Luffy, who just laughed, throwing his head back slightly as he did. Automatically he felt his head.

"WHERE'S HAT!?" he screamed suddenly, scaring all the people again.

"Is this it?" a little boy with orange hair asked, bringing up the straw hat.

"AHH! THANK YOU!" Luffy shouted happily, putting the hat on his head, and spun the boy around in his arms.

"PUT MY SON DOWN!" a woman with just as orange hair as the little boy yelled, stepping out of the circle towards Luffy.

Luffy and Zoro looked at her and her face flickered from power to fear but didn't move. She stood her ground.

Luffy obeyed, putting the little boy back on the ground, where he was giggling.

"Mommy! That was fun! Can I do it again?" he asked, running up to his mother and pulling on her long skirt.

"No!" she said loudly and pulled him back into the crowd, who were all staring at Luffy and Zoro. Luffy was standing, still, and Zoro was sitting up against a stone pillar that was in the town square.

"What'd we do?" Zoro asked.

"YOU FELL INTO OUR VILLAGE!"

"So?"

The women glared now.

"What's going on? Are you women alright?" the men started asking, running into the village, Nami and Usopp with them.

As the women replied, Nami ran up to Luffy and Zoro and bashed them both on the heads.

"HOW COULD YOU TWO BE SO STUPID?"

"Ow! Nami!" Luffy whined.

"What's going on here?" a diplomatic booming voice sounded, quieting everybody.

A muscular, tall man walked into the circle. He had black hair and was wearing long black robes fastened around his waist, but they could see the tee-shirt and jeans on underneath.

"The Straw Hat and the Swordsman fell into the square and the others ran up to the village edge. They claimed they knew the two that fell into the square."

"Why do you men have your weapons?" the tall man asked.

"We were practicing drills when they ran up." another man said.

"Alright, then. Why are you in our village?" the tall man asked the four standing and or sitting next to the pillar.

"Our ship got stuck out in the lake out there and we needed help getting it out. We figured there were people out here because someone told us that all the cartographers who went out here never came back." Nami explained sweetly as Luffy stood up from where he had been lying, spread eagle, on the ground because Nami hit him.

"Oh, is that all? That always get's people stuck!" the tall man said, laughing, "We have someone who can help! Could someone go find Mer?"

A loud murmur rang through the crowd of people as they all asked each other where this Mer was.

"What's a Mer?" Zoro asked, grouchy.

"Not what, who," the man corrected, "Mer is... Here!" he said, looking up to see the crowd parting so that a girl with long wavy black hair that was pulled back in a high ponytail could be seen.

"S'up?"

* * *

Ahh! My new story for the new year! Please enjoy or I'll kill you all. I mean... Be very annoyed. At you all.

Songtime...

Leaving Port- from Titanic  
Lost- Coldplay  
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)- Journey  
Born To Hand Jive- from Grease  
If I Fall You're Going Down With Me- Dixie Chicks  
Fall Right Into Place- ???


	2. Fever, Fight, Fake

Just so everything's clear, her name is pronounced like "mare," as in Female horse. Just so everybody knows.

Chapter Two

"How is she gonna help?" Zoro asked and the girl named Mer turned to him.

"I'm more powerful than you realize, Zoro." she said and stepped over him.

Mer was wearing dark wash jeans with flip flops on. Her shirt was close fitting but still a little loose and was the colour white. In the little sunlight that passed through the thick leaves and branches, her black hair gave off a blue sheen. Her eyes were powder blue and looking at Luffy. Her hands were on her hips and she was leaning her weight onto her right leg.

"Captain Monkey D. Luffy," she said with a smirk. "I'll help you!" she said and held out her hand for Luffy to shake.

Luffy shook it with enthusiasm. "Ok!" he shouted happily.

"Come back as soon as you can, Mer!" the man called out as Mer led the four Pirates out of the village.

"How are you going to get my ship out?" Luffy asked as Mer led them through the trees, knowing where she was going.

"I have my ways. I want it to be a surprise!" she said with a grin to Luffy.

"How did you know my name?" Zoro asked gruffly from behind them.

Mer turned her head to him and said, "You'll see when we get to the ship."

Zoro fumed.

R-E-A-D-M-Y-M-I-N-D

The reached the lake in no time at all.

"That was quick!" Nami exclaimed, smiling.

"We know our way around. So... that's your ship out there?" Mer asked, pointing to the Going Merry.

"Yep! I'll take you there!" Luffy said, extending his arms.

"Oh no! I have my own ways!" she said and started walking straight onto the lake!

"WHAT THE HELL?" Zoro yelled as the rest of them dropped their jaws.

Mer turned back after about ten feet, "What? Let me take care of the ship and I'll tell you!" she said and with a smile, kept walking towards the ship, where she climbed up the ladder and got onto the deck.

"Who are you?" Chopper yelled as he was beside Sanji, who was laying on the deck.

"My name is Mer. I came to unstick the ship." she said as the rest of Luffy's crew made their way to the ship.

"How?" Chopper asked.

Mer smirked, "Magic!"

"REALLY!" Chopper asked, excited.

Mer smiled and went up to the bow of the ship where she looked over the railing and closed her eyes.

Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Zoro got the side of the ship and were about to climb the ladder back up when the ship suddenly started rising from the water so that just the keel was just touching the soft waves. The ship moved slowly forward so that the stern was way past Luffy and them when it settled back into the water.

Again, dropped jaws.

"WHAT THE HELL?" everyone but Sanji screamed.

Mer turned around to see Chopper, Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Zoro with jaws on the deck.

"When did you guys get up onto the deck? I didn't hear you? Were you in too much shock to think?"

"What?" Zoro asked, first to shake off the dropped jaw.

"Could you guys not think? I heard absolutely nothing! Except Sanji's dreams. He's really out." Mer said, turning to look at Sanji, who was still still on the deck.

"What do you mean by 'think?'" Zoro asked, getting suspicious.

Mer, who was crouched down on one knee over Sanji, looked up and said, "I am a Telepathic Telekinesis. I ate the Omoi Omoi no Mi. Mind Mind Fruit. I can move things with my mind and read people's thoughts. That's how I was able to move your ship. It was caught on the soft rocks and so I lifted it up with my mind and set it down here. You might want to anchor it so it doesn't float away." Mer said and suddenly the anchor splashed into the water and fell deep down to the floor where it stayed.

"You can read our minds?" _'WITCH!' _Zoro said and thought.

Mer smiled softly, ducking her head down slightly with her eyes closed.

"Yes, I can, you think I'm a witch."

"Can you read your own mind?" Luffy asked, in total awe at Mer's powers.

"Yes! I can, Luffy!"

"You know our names!" Usopp asked happily.

"You're Usopp. You're Nami. Roronoa Zoro. Monkey D. Luffy. Toni Toni Chopper. Sanji... who is very ill and you should let me take him back up to the village."

"What's wrong with him? I couldn't tell. He seemed fine, just like he was asleep!" Chopper exclaimed, ducking down over Sanji on the opposite side of Mer.

"You're not from this island. You wouldn't know. He has Burn Fever. On this island there are bugs... tiny tiny microscopic bugs that like to get under the skin and they find it easiest when someone has burned their skin. They do occasionally get in if you cut yourself, but that's the blood stream and they don't last very long in there. Too many white blood cells. The skin is their favourite part. It causes swelling, greeness, and a sudden, sometimes fatal, fever."

"Oh my!" Nami said, looking at Sanji as he laid there.

"Please let me take him!" Mer pleaded.

T-I-L-L-K-I-N-G-D-O-M-C-O-M-E-S

Sanji floated at Mer's hip height off the ground. His arm had slipped off his chest and was hanging down, hitting the leaves and brush that were that low to the ground. His bandaged hand was still on his chest.

They floated him into the village where nobody was perturbed by a floating man.

"Algri, where is the Doc?" Mer asked the big man from before who happened to be standing in the square where Luffy and Zoro fell earlier.

"He's in his house, why? What's wrong?" Algri asked, getting concerned.

"It's not me, it's Sanji here. He's got Burn Fever." Mer explained with the crew, minus Zoro, nodding behind her. Zoro had a scowl on his face.

"How long has he had it?" he asked Mer, but Chopper spoke up for her.

"For a few hours."

"HOLY SPIRITS! THE DEER TALKED!"

"I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper screamed.

"Let's go!" Mer yelled over Chopper and led them to the left down a dirt road. The stopped at the third one to the right.

Mer knocked three times.

"Yes? Oh, Mer! How are you? Did you get that ship unstuck?" he asked as he dried his hands with a white hand towel. The Doc looked pretty young, with black hair and black rimmed square glasses over his pretty green eyes.

"Yes, but Doc, one of their crew memebers has Burn Fever!" Mer said, getting exasperated at explaining it to everybody.

"Oh dear! Bring him in!" Doc said and Mer brought him in, mentally keeping the rest of the crew back. Luffy found it fun and leaned up against whatever was keeping them back, so it looked like he was leaning on air.

"Ha ha ha! This is fun! WHOA!" he yelled as he fell back into the dirt as Mer dropped the push against them.

"Doc said Sanji'll be fine, he just needs to treat him. Twenty-four hours and he'll be perfectly fine again." Mer said, closing the door to the Doc's house.

"We're stuck here for another day?" Nami called out.

"Why? What's wrong?" Mer asked as they started towards the square again.

"We were planning to get to Ala Cree by tomorrow." Nami sighed.

Mer nodded solemnly.

T-A-K-E-M-E-A-W-A-Y

That night, the crew was invited to stay while Sanji got better.

"Are you all alone here, Mer?" Nami asked as they sat together at the long wooden table in the house Mer lived in. The boys in the other room arguing.

"Yeah. I wasn't born here, Nami,"

"Oh?"

"No. I came here about six months ago. I wandered into the village after being in the woods for three days. I was so sick. I didn't have Burn Fever, cuz that takes you out in fourty-eight hours flat. No, they said I had Hunger Fever. This island is known for it's many fevers from the stupid little bugs in the air."

Nami's eyes bugged wide.

"Calm down, you're fine. If you don't eat for a day, they'll make you sick. If you burn yourself, you get sick. There are so many other ways that you could get sick on this island." Mer sighed. "I need to get off it."

A loud crash from the other room jolted the two girls into reality.

"What the hell just happened?" Nami shouted, getting up as Mer continued to sit.

"LUFFY PUSHED ME!" Usopp rang

"You were being obnoxious!" Zoro called out.

"You're stupid!" Usopp shot back

"What'd you just say?" a sword being unsheathed could be heard.

"N-n-n-n-nothing!" Usopp stuttered.

"I wonder if this is worth a lot?" Luffy wondered aloud.

W-H-A-T-E-V-E-R-H-A-P-P-E-N-E-D

The next morning was a bright morning, despite all the shade!

"Are you enjoying yourself, Luffy?" Mer called out as she watched him play soccer with the village kids.

Luffy's response was his laugh as he blocked another attempt at his goal, since the team he was on made him goalie.

"No cheating!" Mer laughed as she and Nami kept walking.

"Should we go check up on Sanji-kun?" Nami asked, thumbing towards the Doc's house.

"He wouldn't have changed since we saw him last, but ok. He'll probably cry if he finds out you didn't visit him, Nami!" Mer said and the girls went down the road as Zoro walked back into the village, sheathing his swords.

"You guys are good!" he said as the men came in behind him, panting. Zoro didn't even break a sweat.

"How... how are you human?" one of them asked him.

"I need a nap." Zoro said and slumped off towards the pillar in the square.

"I hope Sanji is ok." Nami said as she and Mer walked into Sanji's room at the Doc's little house.

"He's doing better! He should be up in a few hours!" Doc said and left the girls alone with the unconscious Sanji.

His hand was unbandaged and the swelling had gone down but it was still the greenish colour.

"How is he?" Nami asked, looking to Mer.

Mer closed her eyes and said, "He's dreaming. Why is he cooking for a bunch of naked girls that look like you?"

Nami slapped Sanji.

M-A-K-E-M-E-B-E-T-T-E-R

It was nearing 3:00, the time Sanji was suppose to wake up from the fever. Nami and Mer were over there waiting while the boys were in the town square. Luffy was playing Marco Polo with the other village kids and Usopp and Chopper while Zoro slept. Then something happened to cause everyone to go silent.

"Hello! We're here on our rounds!" A tall man in a Navy uniform said with about a hundred other men behind him. All Navy.

Algri walked up to the man.

"What business do you have of us here?" he demanded in a low tone.

The Navel Officer smirked and held up a piece of parchment with a lot of writing on it.

Algri looked it over and nodded once.

Zoro stood up next to Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper as the Navel men came into the town.

"What's going on, Algri?" Zoro called out to Village Leader Algri.

Algri turned to Zoro with a stiff look on his face.

"They're here to recruit the village boys."

They looked at one another and back at Algri, still confused.

"For the Navy!" Algri yelled.

"You let them into your village?" Usopp shouted, angry.

"I made a deal with them. I use to be a Navy man myself, actually! Any boy eligible is recruited."

Out of the first houses came some Navy men with young boys between seven and fourteen. They were holding them by the upper arm and the other two were holding back the parents with their swords.

"They're kidnaping them!" Zoro shouted angrily.

The commotion the boys were causing caused some of the Navel officers to look their way.

"That's the Straw Hat! And his crew!" one yelled.

"Straw Hat?"

"They're here!"

"Get them!"

The Navel Officers not handling the boys went after Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper.

Usopp and Chopper screamed and ran down the road towards the back of the village, half the navy men following them while the other half stayed with Luffy and Zoro.

F-I-G-H-T

"Hey, Sanji!" Nami said brightly as Sanji's eye opened.

"Nami-san? Where am I?" he asked groggily.

"In the village we found. The Doc made you better. You had Burn Fever." Nami explained as Doc and Mer stood a little ways away from the bed.

"Doc? Chopper?"

"No. The Doctor in the village."

Sanji looked around and found the Doc, and said, "Thank you."

"It's no problem! If it wasn't for Mer, you'd be dead tomorrow!" Doc said and left the room.

"Mer?" Sanji asked, turning to Mer standing there.

"Hello, Sanji. I'm Mer." Mer said, waving.

"She's pretty!" he said faintly and laid his head back against the pillow.

"That happens. He'll be faint for another twenty-four hours. That's the way Burn Fever works. If not treated, will kill you in fourty-eight hours. If is treated, will be gone in fourty-eight hours." Mer said, shrugging. Then her head picked up and she turned to the window where the navy men could be seen.

"Oh no." she whispered.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Nami asked, getting up and looking out the window too. "What are they doing here?" Nami barked and then Mer shoved them both down below the windowsill right as a Navy man looked.

"What?" Nami hissed.

"They're here as recruiting the boys of the village for the navy. They're forcing them to, no matter what. And not only that, they're always looking for people with- er- Pirates." Mer hissed back.

Nami was about to peak over the sill, but Mer kept her down.

"They aren't willing to capture, but to kill!" Mer hissed, her eyes wide.

"Are you two ok?" Sanji asked from the bed, trying to get up.

"No! Sanji! Stay down! You're too weak to do anything!" Mer said panicky.

"No way! I'm fighting!"

"Sanji!"

Back in the square...

"Was that it?" Luffy asked, swinging his arm around in circles.

"Looks like it. They weren't even tough!" Zoro said as the head Navel Officer came running into the scene.

"Wha-what the hell?" he yelled, seeing all his fallen comrades.

"Hey! You're the one who's making all the boys join the Navy even if they don't want to." Luffy said, pointing at the man.

"Heh, what are you gonna do bout it?" he asked, angered by his fallen men.

"Stop you."

Running up to the square was Nami and Mer closely followed by Sanji.

"Sanji, aren't you still sick?" Luffy called out.

"I'm fine!" he yelled back.

"Hey, where are Usopp and Chopper?" Nami asked as soon as they got there.

"Straw Hat. Your bounty is great, so I must HAVE IT!" the Navel Officer screamed, leaping up into the air and coming down with a rather large mace. Luffy had only seconds before it smashed onto him to get out of the way, which he did.

"Hey! Watch it!" he yelled.

The man straightened up and said, "You dare dodge my Mace?"

"Yeah! I do!"

The man went in for another attack, Luffy just dodging it again.

As Nami, Sanji, and Mer watched from the road, Mer screamed, "LOOK OUT!" and pushed Nami and Sanji out of the way as the other Navy men from back down the road appeared behind them, ready to attack.

"GOMMU GOMMU NO FUSSEN!"

"OMOI OMOI BEND!" Mer yelled and all the weapons the Navy men had bent in half and fell to the dirt, useless.

Sanji, bending over, took out ten of them in three kicks but then fell into the dirt himself from exhaustion.

"SANJI-KUN!" Nami screamed, leaping over to him in time to duck away from her attackers, who were thrown into the square with the others by Mer.

"NAMI WATCH OUT!" Mer screamed as a new wave of men came after her.

BAM BAM BAM!

Zoro was in front of Nami and Sanji, having beat the others out of their way.

"Zoro!"

"I didn't need... your help!" Sanji managed to say as he tried to push himself up onto his elbows.

"USOPP HAMMER!" they heard Usopp yell and a bunch of BAM BAM BAMS.

"You're quick, Straw Hat! But not quick enough for my SEA PRISM PISTOL!" he screamed quickly and whipped out a pistol and shot at Luffy. As the bullet soared at Luffy, it burst into dust that completely covered Luffy in it's black dust.

"What the hell? It broke?" he said and then fell into the dirt, unable to move.

"LUFFY! GET UP!" Usopp cheered from the sidelines.

"I... I can't!"

"Sea Prism Dust!" Mer hissed.

"Excellent! Now I can finish you!" the man with the Mace said and swung it around for effect a few times over Luffy and then suddenly he looked like he was punched in the gut. He dropped his mace into the square away from Luffy as Luffy watched him look like he really got punched in the jaw, punched in the cheeks, punched in the gut again, kicked in both legs, and then pushed to the ground where the chain from his mace wrapped itself around his wrists and ankles binding them all together so he looked like a tied calf.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Luffy yelled.

Mer walked over to the Navel Officer and said with narrow eyes and a small smile, "I either throw you in the lake or I strand you in the woods! Make. Your. Choice." and kicked him in the head.

P-A-R-A-L-Y-Z-E-R

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN UP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE WEAK FOR A WHOLE OTHER DAY!" Doc screamed at Sanji as he laid in his bed.

"Nice going, Sanji." Zoro said with a smirk from the doorway as he leaned against the frame with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Shut it, Zoro." Sanji managed to say till Doc hissed a rather loud, "SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Mer chuckled softly from where she was leaning up against the wall with her hands behind her back.

"What is it, Mer?" Luffy asked from where he was sitting as Doc patched up his cuts he got from the fight and cleaned off the Sea Prism dust so Luffy could move again.

"Oh nothing! The villagers are sentencing Algri to the same thing as the Navel Officer! They're being thrown into the woods with no food!" Mer said with a smile.

"Aww! Look how cute she is when she smiles!" Sanji cooed from the bed.

"You're sort of odd, aren't you, Mer?" Luffy said.

"LUFFY!" Sanji yelled, then fainted quickly.

Mer shrugged, "Yeah, I guess I am." she said.

"How would you like to join my crew?" Luffy asked, smiling. The rest of his crew perked up at that note, Sanji coming out of his faint.

Mer blinked a few times, her face still serene and calm.

"No." she finally said.

"But why?" Chopper asked as he stood beside Mer.

"Just no. Do I need a reason?" Mer asked and the room fell silent.

A minute passed...

"Yes. You do need a reason." Luffy said, his face set.

"Because." Mer said.

"That's not a reason!" Luffy protested.

"Pweees, Mer-chan!" Sanji cooed.

"No!" Mer declared and left the room in a huff.

"Oi! Wait up for me!" Luffy yelled but could only move his right foot, right arm, and his head, so he couldn't get very far.

They heard the door slam.

* * *

11-27-08

Songtime!

Read My Mind- The Killers  
Till Kingdom Comes- Coldplay  
Take Me Away- Plain White Tees  
What Ever Happened- The Strokes  
Make Me Better- Fabolous feat. Ne-yo  
Fight- No Vacancy  
Paralyzer- Finger Eleven


	3. Say Yes

Chapter Three

"Where'd she go?" Luffy asked as soon as he was completely bandaged and cleaned up.

"She went to her hiding spot." Doc said.

"Where is that?" Luffy demanded quickly.

"It's... not in the village. Look, try not to let her know I told you this... but it's up on the hill, where you and the swords-dude fell from."

"Thanks!" Luffy shouted and started running. As soon as he was outside, he stretched his arms towards the trees and rocketed himself into the forest.

W-E-C-A-N-W-O-R-K-I-T-O-U-T

The breeze blew the long black locks of hair out of Mer's face as she sat there staring out at the bright blue sky.

"Hello, Mer!" Luffy said, popping into her view as he swung from the branches of the tree.

"What the hell, Luffy?" Mer asked, turning around as she sat on the thick branch of the tree.

"I was told you'd be here! You are!"

Mer scowled.

"Did you hear me coming?" he asked, flipping around so he could sit next to her.

"In a way, yes. But I wasn't paying attention. I can push the noise out of my head, you know."

"How?" Luffy asked, curiosity burning in his eyes.

Mer sighed as she rested her arms on her knees that where brought up to her chest. "It's like standing in the middle of a crowded street and hearing everybody's voice talking at once. In a sort of murmur... like they're all talking to themselves. My range of hearing a single voice is one mile. My range of hearing a voice I know well is five miles. I can hear Algri right now. He's in the middle of the forest but I can still hear him. He's pissed." Mer said, not breaking a smile.

"Must be really cool hearing people's thoughts." Luffy said, grinning.

"It is and it isn't," Mer said with another sigh. "It's good when I need to know what my enemies are doing, but it's bad cuz then I don't get any surprises."

Luffy watched Mer as she sat there.

"Why won't you join my crew?" Luffy asked finally.

"Heh! I was wondering when you'd ask that! I have my reasons." she said, not looking at Luffy again.

"What are they?"

"You never give up, do you? I saw how you got Nami to join. She didn't want to. I'm more willful than she is, you know."

"You've seen that? I didn't see you there?" Luffy explained, getting confused.

"I saw it in her memories, you idiot! That was the first thing she thought of when I said 'no' to you the first time."

"So what are your reasons?" Luffy asked.

"It's too complicated for me to become a member of your crew, Luffy."

"How?"

"It just is."

"But you have to join my crew! I'm gonna become the-"

"King of Pirates, I know." Mer finished for him.

"And Zoro's gonna-"

"Become the Greatest Swordsman, and Usopp and great Pirate like his dad, and Nami's gonna make a map of the world, and Sanji's gonna find the All Blue..." Mer went on, trailing off.

"What about you?" Luffy asked, looking into her face as it was turned slightly away from him.

Mer was silent for a long time before she said, "When I was a kid... I use to love to write," she said quietly, her face staring forwards. "I use to write all the time. Stories, mainly. I don't know what happened to them? But I use to tell everyone that I was gonna be a great writer. That I was gonna write a story that everyone will know of. All around the world in every island at every port they would be talking about my book!" she said, grinning at the thought of it all.

Luffy was grinning, too.

"Join my crew!" Luffy said, nodding.

Mer sighed once again. "Alright," she said smiling, "Luffy. You brought back my will to write. And I will document everything we do." she said, holding out her hand.

"Deal!" Luffy said, laughing as he shook her hand.

Y-E-S

Ala Cree was huge! Tall buildings all lit up by lights and the sun reflecting off the ocean.

"WHOA!" everyone exclaimed when they entered into it from the forest on the Going Merry.

"This place is amazing!" Mer exclaimed as she stood at the bow, looking at everything.

"I've never seen a city so bright!" Nami shouted happily.

"I wonder if there are pretty girls here!" Sanji shouted, clapping.

"How long do we have to stop for?" Zoro asked Nami.

Nami, still looking at the buildings lining the river, said, "Not too long. We just need to stock up on some things and we can leave."

They sailed down the river and into the docks to the confused dockmen.

"I haven't seen a ship come down the river for years!" one man said in disbelief as they came down the gangplank.

"They've all been caught in the lake." Mer hissed in Nami's ear at her confusion.

"Oh." she said.

"Where are you lovely ladies going?" Sanji asked, floating down the gangplank after the girls.

"I'm taking Mer shopping! She needs clothes." Nami said, looping her arm through Mer's. Mer was wearing a short sleeved light blue shirt with black knee length cargo shorts and flip-flops. Her long black hair still in a ponytail.

"Alright! You two have fun! I need to go grocery shopping!" he said and bounded off in the opposite direction.

"You don't have to, Nami." Mer said as Nami led her into a boutique.

"Oh, yes I do! And you won't have to pay me back."

"Odd... you still haven't let Zoro live down that he has yet to pay _you_ back. Why am I excluded?"

"You're not Zoro."

T-A-K-E-T-H-E-M-O-N-E-Y-A-N-D-R-U-N

Luffy and Usopp were walking down the road back towards the ship after eating out at a diner that eventually kicked them out for eating too much.

"Ahh! That was good! I wish they didn't kick us out." Luffy said, rubbing his large belly.

"I wish they didn't kick us out before I got to eat anything!" Usopp yelled, holding his empty stomach.

"Oh, you didn't eat?" Luffy asked as they continued walking.

They kept walking and as soon as the ship was in sight, about 400 yards away, they heard a very loud, "STRAW HAT!"

Both Luffy and Usopp turned behind them and saw Smoker running towards them.

"S-SMOKER!" Usopp shouted and took Luffy's wrist and suddenly was off like a shot with Luffy bouncing behind him.

"What's that?" Sanji asked as he brought up the last of the groceries into the kitchen.

Zoro looked out and saw Usopp, Luffy being dragged, and about a hundred marines chasing them.

"TIME TO GO!" Zoro shouted and started making the ship ready to leave.

"WAIT! NAMI-SAN AND MER-CHAN AREN'T BACK YET!" Sanji screamed as Zoro pulled up the anchor and Chopper took down the sails.

"GET THE SHIP READY THEN!" Zoro shouted.

"Why are they getting the ship ready? We can't be ready to leave now?" Nami asked, getting angry as she and Mer walked towards the ship following the river. Each carrying about six very large bags.

"Uh oh. Who's Smoker?" Mer asked.

"Smoker's here? Crap!" Nami yelled and she and Mer started running for the ship.

Luffy and Usopp made it to the ship first. The marines about 100 yards away.

"GO! GO GO GO!" Usopp screamed.

Sanji smacked him down, "NOT TILL NAMI-SAN AND MER-CHAN GET HERE!"

"WE'RE HERE!" Nami screamed as she and Mer jumped up onto the ship.

"GO!" Usopp shouted from where he was embedded in the deck.

Mer was suddenly running towards the front of the ship and when she reached the door she threw her hands forward and all of a sudden the ship was zooming through the water and out to open sea.

"WAY TO GO MER!" Luffy shouted, jumping.

"MER! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Usopp yelled.

"Thanks. That was fun! When do we get to fight them?"

"Soon." Zoro said, leaning over the railing to see a giant ship coming up on them from the island.

"Oh man. How are we going to outrun a giant Navy ship?" Sanji asked, watching it come up on them.

"Luffy's got a plan." Mer said, standing there with her arms crossed.

"What are you planning, Luffy?" Nami asked, looking at him with a look in her eyes saying, 'don't you dare.'

Luffy smirked and said, "Just watch!"

The ship came up close to them and Luffy yelled, "Grab on!" as he was getting ready to stretch is arm out.

Zoro, Sanji, and Mer all grabbed onto his arm as his other stretched out and grabbed onto the railing of the navy ship.

Screaming, they zoomed over to the Navy ship.

Nami, Usopp, and Chopper watched from the Going Merry where they saw, in groups, the marines go flying into the water and finally the ship splitting in half down to the keel.

A hand appeared on the railing and Chopper and Usopp dove out of the way as Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Mer came flying back to the ship, the boys landing in a heap at the wall. Mer, who had detached herself in time, was standing agilely on the railing, smiling.

B-A-R-R-A-C-U-D-A

"Do you miss the village?" Nami asked that night at supper as Luffy and Chopper had an argument over who gets the last chicken leg as Zoro stole it out from under them.

"No much. I'd only been there for a year." Mer replied as she picked at her fish.

"Oh? Why?"

"I move around a lot. I don't really stay in one place for very long. I have my reasons," she said, reading Nami's question that was on the tip of her toung.

"What are they?"

But Mer brushed them off quickly with a sweeping motion of her hand.

Sanji, who had been listening as he sat on the left of Mer as Nami was across the table, said, "Are you enjoying your fish, my dear?"

"Very much so, thank you, Sanji!" Mer said, smiling in his direction, causing him to melt to the floor off his seat. Luffy on the other side of him didn't pay any attention except to steal his food. Mer chuckled.

"Mer. That's an weird name." Luffy said, turning to face her, getting a kick in the face from under the table. Luffy paid that no mind.

Mer made a forced looking smile and said, "It means 'sea.' Like the ocean. My full name is Dela Mer."

"That's a weird name. But ok!" Luffy said, giving her a thumbs up and returning to his food.

W-H-A-T-S-Y-O-U-R-N-A-M-E

That night, Nami led Mer, with all of Mer's stuff, down to their room, Mer's new room.

"We get to share," the 18-year-old explained to the 17-year-old. "The boys are on the other side of the wall, but they don't bother. Just don't let Sanji know when you're getting dressed." Nami warned seriously.

"Thanks." Mer said and gently floated her stuff over to the corner.

Nami shuddered, "I guess that's something to get use to. Get some sleep, Mer! We've got an island tomorrow!"

Nami and Mer got ready for bed and as Mer climbed into bed, she let her mind wander as the gas lights were snuffed.

'_I hate being on watch duty. Ooo! What's that!' _

'_Should I do some pushups before bed? Hum...how many?'_

'_Ok... for breakfast I should cook the boys some bacon and ham with a pineapple glaze! Something a bit healthy for those monsters and for the girls...'_

'_Pack pack pack, secure secure secure, close lid, done for the day!'_

'_... was going to be an island tomorrow! Oh no! I hope nothing comes out to eat us! What if...'_

Mer smirked to herself in the dark. Oh how fun it was to listen to the thoughts of boys. Never as deep as those of girls.

With that last thought, Mer drifted off to sleep.

S-O-U-L-M-E-E-T-S-B-O-D-Y

The next morning the girls woke suddenly to the sound of shouting.

"What the hell?" Nami growled as she got out of bed and wrapping a warmer coat around herself.

Mer watched with wonder as she stepped out of bed too and noticed the cold air creating goosebumps all up her arms and legs and the back of her neck.

Up on deck the boys, minus Sanji, were all out on deck where it was wet with cold slush. The sky above them was an uneventful grey while the air around them was slightly foggy. The moving water around them were a steel grey matching the sky above as Mer looked over to not find her reflection.

"Where are we?" Mer called out to Nami, who was already up at the bow looking forward through binoculars.

"Near the island." Nami called back.

"Mer-chan! You shouldn't be out here without a coat on! You'll catch a cold!" Sanji called, coming down the stairs in a flash and wrapping his warm coat around Mer's bare arms. Her feet were uncovered as well as they stood there in the slush.

"I'll be fine, Sanji." Mer said as she peered over the railing at the direction of the bow where a darker grey lump on the horizon had appeared.

"Looks like we'll be at the island in less than an hour." Nami said, placing her binoculars down and turning towards the crew.

"Would you like to be there sooner?" Mer asked Luffy brightly.

"YEAH YEAH YEAH!" he shouted excitedly.

Mer smirked, "Hold on!" she said and started running.

* * *

12-3-08

songTIme

We Can Work It Out- The Beatles  
Yes- Coldplay  
Take The Money and Run- Steve Miller Band  
Barracuda- Heart  
What's Your Name- Lynyard Skynyrd  
Soul Meets Body- Death Cab For Cutie


	4. Not Such a Winter Wonderland

Chapter Four

The ship anchor fell into the half water half ice as Zoro dropped it as soon as Mer stopped the ship.

"Nice. It's cold." Mer said sarcastically.

"Cold?" Luffy asked and suddenly was running, hugging his hands to his arms, "AHH! COLD!"

C-O-L-D-C-O-L-D-W-A-T-E-R

They all stood on the beach watching Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper play in the snowbanks.

"Snow," Mer breathed, her warm breath clouding ahead on her face. "I haven't seen it since... well... nevermind." Mer said, turning her forced smile to Sanji, who was giving her a questioning look.

Mer was wearing a black winter coat with the big hood up on her head. It had a fur edge on the hood framing her face. Her hands, gloved, were deep in her coat pockets. She just had on her jeans and black winter boots.

Sanji was wearing a dark blue jacket and was smoking to keep himself warm, too. It was hard, since he had on mittens.

Zoro was wearing an almost identical jacket, except the only difference was the colour. He had on a dark green and his mittened hands were in the pockets as well.

Nami was wearing her new pale orange coat and long black pants with her stylish black snow boots, too. She had on cute black hat with the ear flaps and long braided yarn falling from them.

"Shall we go find a town, then?" Nami asked as the boys started a snowball fight. Usopp was wearing a giant one piece bright orange snow suit and thick black boots. He had on a big hat that came down to the top of his eyes and a scarf around his face so the only things visible were his eyes and his nose, which was going red at the tip. Luffy, on the other hand, was wearing, simply, a bright red coat and mittens. He still wore his shorts and flip flops.

"Sure!" Luffy said brightly and started marching into the trees. Chopper, in running form, followed eagerly. He had missed the snow.

The snow fell down on them from the sky and the pine trees as they brushed against the branches, causing little avalanches to fall on their heads as they moved.

"We don't even know where we're going!" Zoro complained loudly.

"You never know where you're going." Sanji said in a low voice, causing Mer and Nami to giggle slightly and Zoro to scream, "WHAT'D YOU SAY!?"

"I know where! It's forward!" Luffy said from the front of the line.

"Keep going forward, Luffy! For another five minutes!" Mer shouted, smiling.

"You know this island, Mer-chan?" Sanji asked from right behind her in the line.

"In a way, yes. I've never been here before, but because of my powers... I can in a way see the island. My mind reading goes for about a mile, unless I know the voice, then it goes further, but my mind sensing and controlling goes much further out. Though it's a bit of a strain and annoying cuz I get a headache after I do this, go way out of my normal mile limit, I can still see the forms of the trees and people and animals and everything!" Mer explained as they passed the towering snow covered pines.

"Oh! Interesting! I've never seen something like this before." Sanji said as Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Zoro thinks you're just humoring me." Mer said, not turning to face Sanji.

Sanji glared.

"How long have you had your powers?" Luffy asked from beside her all of a sudden.

Sanji and Zoro were surprised out of their minds, but Mer acted like nothing else happened, "Since before I can remember." she said quietly.

W-H-E-R-E-I-S-M-Y-M-I-N-D

They entered into the town, named Snow Town, Mer told them, on a side street and walked it to the town's main road. There they found that there was a nice wide path leading from the snowy beach to the town. A bit annoyed, they continued on.

It was snowing gently as they walked down the middle of the cobblestone street.

"This place is pretty." Nami said as she looked at all the places and people.

"It's quiet!" Mer said, smiling slightly.

"I'm bored." Luffy said, slumping as he walked.

"Hold on. We'll find something to do." Zoro said, smirking slightly.

Mer chuckled softly.

"What is it, Mer-chan?" Sanji asked as he walked beside her. She was only about an inch shorter than he was.

"Just watch!" Mer whispered.

Luffy was ahead of the pack, so he didn't see Zoro stoop down to pick up a bunch of fresh snow that was lying on the ground, pack it into a misshapen ball and chuck it at the back of Luffy's head.

It splattered, sending a bit down the back of Luffy's shirt, and Luffy froze.

Suddenly, in one quick sweeping motion, he swung around, scooped up some snow of his own off the fountain that was near him, and chucked it back at Zoro, all in one sweeping motion. The snow landed on Zoro's neck and melted down his shirt.

"AH! COLD COLD COLD!" he shouted, jumping around, holding his shirt and jacket out so the snow would fall out.

Nami, Mer, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper and Luffy were all laughing hysterically.

"It's not funny!" Zoro growled.

"You did it!" Nami gasped with laughter.

He glared and walked off in a huff in the opposite direction.

"DON'T GET LOST!" Sanji shouted after him.

"Looks like we're separating. Meet back at the fountain in an hour, got it?" Nami commanded at the boys who were already gone.

"Going to do some shopping, Nami. Ok." Mer said and Nami blinked and was off, not getting use to the idea that Mer could read minds.

"Why are you coming with me, Sanji?" Mer asked as they started walking down the street again. Nami had gone into the first shop she'd seen.

"So you're not alone in an unfamiliar town, Mer-chan!"

"You let Nami off alone?" Mer pointed out.

"You're new on the crew. I don't want you to think that we'd all ditch you at the first notice." Sanji replied.

Mer shrugged and kept walking.

"Dela Mer!" they heard a bell-like voice call through the serene murmur of the main street.

Mer froze, her face almost unreadable to Sanji.

Slowly she turned around to face a girl with jade green long hair pulled up in a high ponytail, much like Mer's black hair. She had a bright pale face and was wearing a knee length fitted to her small waist green winter coat with her bare legs showing just an inch till you saw that she had on tall green lace up boots. Her eyes were green. Her gloves were green. Her lips were a sparkling shimmery green.

"Fleur," Mer hissed, eyes wide. "Fleur!" she said brightly and happily quickly after.

The green girl named Fleur came up and smiled, her eyes saying something else.

"You don't look so blue today? Where _have_ you been lately?" she asked in her falsetto bell-like voice.

"About. In a jungle." Mer said, almost sneering. Sanji kept quiet.

"What a bore!" her socialite tone kept on. "How _did _you stand it?" she almost hissed, as if adding drama.

"Better than you would have." Mer said bluntly.

Fleur took the hit, but went on, turning to Sanji.

"Who is this handsome man?" Fleur asked, turning her body to Sanji.

He, being Sanji, flipped.

"I'm Sanji, you pretty pretty lady!" he said, kissing her hand.

"This is Sanji." Mer said, bored.

Fleur turned back to Mer, the something back in her eyes.

"Well. You know you've been away too long." Fleur said, her charm bell gone. She was standing with her hands on her hips, her body arched slightly as her weight was on her right leg.

Mer said nothing, so Fleur went on.

"The next island, Mer." she said and turned and walked away.

Mer was seething as soon as Fleur was out of sight.

"What is it, Mer-chan?" Sanji asked, concern back in his face.

Mer swallowed audibly. "Nothing. It's nothing, Sanji."

"Who was that?" Sanji asked as Mer started taking deep breaths.

"Just someone I know."

"What was she saying about being gone too long?"

Mer sighed, "She can't stand being away from me for too long."

"Then why did she walk away?"

Mer's breath caught. "No idea." she said, a bit shaky now.

M-O-R-E-T-H-A-N-Y-O-U-L-L-E-V-E-R-K-N-O-W

After an hour of grocery shoping with Sanji, he and Mer made it back to the fountain that was blubbing out warm water, for steam was rising from the water.

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper came from a side street, all of them sopping wet. Zoro came, chewing on a drumstick, and Nami arrived with four big bags.

"They have nice clothes here for a snowy little village!" Nami said, smiling.

"And great snow!" Luffy beamed, his jacket dripping with melted snow.

"You're drying those, you guys!" Nami warned, her gaze narrowing.

The three just laughed.

"What did you two do today? Anything but grocery shop?" Nami asked Mer and Sanji as the group started back for the ship.

"Nope! Just got some food." Mer said quickly.

Nami exchanged a look with Sanji.

"Nothing happened, right Sanji?" Mer said through gritted teeth.

Sanji's gaze flitted from Nami to Mer and said, "Right. Nothing happened."

S-H-U-T-U-P-A-N-D-D-R-I-V-E

"Think we're safe here?" Sanji asked as he and Nami trecked to the other side of the town. The furthest corner. The town was small, but big enough to have a far corner.

"It is about a mile away from the beach."

"We might have a good shot at her not hearing us. I need to tell you something, today a totally amazingly hot girl came up to Mer. They knew each other, I could tell that, and I could tell that Mer wasn't too thrilled that she was there. The girl, Fleur, was talking about the next island and Mer being gone too long. She even said she didn't look sad today? Mer tried to pass it off, but I could tell that there were some tough feelings there. I couldn't even think about it when you asked earlier today, Mer was so touchy about it." Sanji explained.

"Maybe Mer just hates this Fleur?" Nami suggested.

"No. There was something more..." Sanji trailled off.

Nami didn't reply, thinking herself.

"What did Fleur look like?" Nami asked.

"Green. She had green hair, like the stupid idiot, and green eyes and a green coat and green boots and green fingernails and even green lips! Green all over!"

"Green? Hum... weird. I guess she likes the colour." Nami said, shrugging.

Sanji shook his head, "Can't be. Gotta be something more..."

"It's probably all in your head, Sanji." Nami said and turned to go back to the ship.

Sanji followed. It was getting dark and there was a supper to be put on the table.

I-M-A-B-E-L-I-E-V-E-R

They had to stay in Snow Town another couple of days. Mer, on the other hand, wanted to leave. Badly.

"See. She's jumpy." Sanji whispered to Nami as he passed behind her as she leaned her elbows on the railing of the ship, staring out at the half frozen water.

Nami looked at him and then at Mer, who was sitting in the corner by the stairs leading to the bow. She was curled up in a ball with a thick blanket around her. Her cheeks were red and the tip of her noes was red. Like the rest of them.

Nami sighed and went over to Mer. The boys were keeping warm by playing on the snowy beach.

"Hey, Mer." Nami said, sitting down beside Mer.

"Hello." Mer replied.

"I told you, we're leaving tomorrow." Nami said, not needing Mer's powers to know that's what Mer wanted to know.

"I know. I know. I just remembered that I don't like snow."

"You've been around snow before?" Nami asked.

"Before... when I was a kid." Mer said quietly and trailled off, turning her head away from Nami.

"Are you warm enough, Nami-san? Mer-chan?" Sanji asked as he walked up.

"Yes, thank you, Sanji." Mer said, her warm breath fogging in her face.

"Is anything wrong, Mer-chan?"

"No. There _is_n't, Sanji."

T-H-E-W-H-I-S-K-Y-A-I-N-T-W-O-R-K-I-N

Zoro, sitting in the bar in Snow Town (ironically, the bar was called Ice Cold), sipped at his grog.

"Finally! An open bar." someone coming in said happily in a falsetto tone.

"Ooo! Warm, too." the man with them said. Zoro, slouched over, thought he knew that voice, so he kept listening to the pair.

"Bartender! Two sparkling!" the falsetto said loudly through the little room.

The bartender brought over the two drinks and the woman went on.

"I can't believe this town. Did you ever think that the first leg of our journey and we find her! I thought it'd take forever!"

"Lucky, eh? But will she return to him?" the man said, taking a sip.

"Oh she will, alright." the woman with the bell-like voice said darkly.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I don't need her powers to know that she's too afraid not to," the woman sighed. "Use your head, V, really!"

"Fee, you control-"

"I know what I control!" the woman shouted suddenly. It was only just Zoro and the barkeeper in there beside them.

"Calm down, alright? So what then? He's not going to kill her." the man said.

"I know. But she's going to have to have a very good excuse to Dieux for why she's been gone for more than a year without call. I just wish I knew why she was gone?" the woman mused angrily.

"Maybe she was trying to do her job?" the man said, enunciating the words, as if trying to insinuate something.

"For over a year?" the woman said bluntly.

The man was silent.

The woman sighed.

"Well, come on, Vert. We need to get some things if we're going back tomorrow morning." the woman said and she and the man left the bar.

Zoro turned around to watch them through the window on the door. He caught a glimps of green hair.

A-C-C-O-R-D-I-N-G-T-O-P-L-A-N

"Green hair? It was that Fleur girl again! And you said she had a man with her? Green hair also?" Sanji pressed after Zoro, in passing, told him what he saw.

"Yeah." Zoro said, getting a little irritated.

"What were they talking about?" Sanji asked.

"About how this girl hadn't been around for over a year-"

"THAT'S MER!" Sanji shouted.

"What's Mer?" Mer asked from the doorway to the kitchen. Her hood down and her black hair splayed all over her black coat. It was longer than they expected, down to her hips.

"Uh... n-nothing's Mer, Mer-chan!" Sanji said.

Mer's eyes flickered but nothing else.

"Do you know when we're leaving?" Mer asked suddenly.

"No. Nami said sometime tomorrow." Sanji replied.

Mer nodded and then left the doorway.

"See! Something's up! You can tell!" Sanji hissed to Zoro.

"Why are you so concerned?" Zoro asked, glaring at Sanji.

Sanji glared back, but said, "Because she's a crewmember now."

* * *

12-7-08

SongTIMe

Cold, Cold Water- Flat Broke Blues Band  
Where Is My Mind- The Pixies  
More Than You'll Ever Know- Travis Tritt  
Shut Up and Drive- Rihanna  
I'm a Believer- The Monkees  
The Whisky Ain't Workin- Travis Tritt  
According To Plan- from Corps Bride


	5. Behind Those Blue Eyes

Ok, seriously now, I wrote in there the word 'sauna' and if you can NOT pronounce it properly, I will probably kill you. Now, here is the PROPER pronunciation of the word 'sauna;' Sow-NAH. Say it now. Sow-NAH!

Sheesh you people...

Chapter Five

The day after the next was stickily humid. Like the ship had just sailed into a sauna. They could see the waves in the air as much as the water and the sails were damp, so the ship was moving sluggishly along as the little air movement pushed it ever so slightly.

The crew had discarded all their winter clothes and were all wearing lighter clothes now. Nami in her lavender skirt and purple tanktop, Luffy back into his normal clothes, Zoro in black shorts, sandals, and an open button up dark blue shirt, Sanji in his black pants and his orange vertical stripped button up, not tucked in and with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Usopp in overalls, Chopper nearly dying on deck, and Mer in dark blue jersey material short shorts and a light blue tanktop. Her hair was in a bun and off her back.

"It's so hot!"

"No, it's actually a balmy 79 degrees! It's just humid." Nami replied to Usopp, who was lying beside Chopper on deck. The sun wasn't even hot on their skin, it was the humidity.

"Why is it so humid?" Chopper cried.

"We're nearing Tsugua. The most humid island on the Grand Line. A humidity level of 101% all year long." Mer replied, coming down the stairs from the bow.

"101%? That's impossible." Nami replied, looking at her barometer and nearly chocked on her spit at what it read.

"Impossible." she whispered.

Mer smirked. "I know! Tsugua is the place where the impossible things are possible. Or so they say. The sick go there and get better. The blind go there and they can see. It's magical, they say. The humidity has something to do with it. Or so they say." Mer said.

"Cool! Magic island!" Luffy called out. He seemed completely unaffected by the humidity.

"There it is now." Mer said distantly as she faced the stern and everybody ran to the railing to see an island. It was green from where they could see it, wavy too from the humidity, but it was still there.

Mer's eyes grew wide, "Nami! Let's pass it! Go to the next island!" Mer shouted suddenly, running to Nami's side.

"We can't. We need to reset the log pose and get some supplies." Nami said a little apologetically.

Mer fidgeted, "Don't we have enough supplies?"

"No. From what you told me yesterday, the island after Tsugua is a week away."

Mer, in a huff, went into the ship and down to the girls' cabin.

"IS MER-CHAN UPSET!?" Sanji screamed.

"Yeah. And I don't know why, either?"

W-H-Y-H-A-V-E-Y-O-U-B-R-O-U-G-H-T-M-E-H-E-R-E

They docked at the town called Dimuh.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Nami called down to the cabin.

"I'm staying on this ship till we reach the next island!" Mer called back angrily. "I'm not leaving this ship." she declared.

"Alright, alright! Keep watch then!" Nami said back and the trap door snapped shut without anybody touching it.

Nami sighed as she walked out on deck.

"Where is Mer-chan?" Sanji asked, wating for Nami. His dark orange tinted glasses on.

"She refuses to get off the ship till the next island, so she's keeping watch." Nami explained as she and Sanji left the ship.

"She's acting like it again!" Sanji hissed to Nami as they walked out onto the road filled with people.

Nami rolled her eyes.

Mer, fuming in the cool cabin, heard it all.

I-C-A-U-G-H-T-M-Y-S-E-L-F

"Boy, for a humid island there sure are a lot of people!" Usopp said as he and Luffy walked into the town square. There was a huge glistening fountain in the middle where a lot of people were milling around, letting the cool spray hit them.

"What's that!" Luffy cried, pointing to their right where the entire side of the square was a big board of wanted posters.

"I wonder if I'm there!" Luffy shouted and ran over. Usopp followed.

Luffy looked at every picture, looking for himself, but one picture at eye level caught Usopp's attention. The picture was of a pretty girl with long shiny black hair billowing around her face. She was making a smirk at the camera and her powder blue eyes were suggesting something else Usopp couldn't put his finger on. The poster said, WANTED! ALIVE! 99,000,000.

"Dela Mer." Usopp whispered and took the poster off the wall, leaving a rectangular empty space of wood.

"I FOUND ME!" Luffy shouted happily.

"Luffy! Look at this!" Usopp said quietly, coming over to Luffy holding Mer's wanted poster.

"Hah! I'm worth more than her!" Luffy said, pointing to the bounty.

"Why is she wanted Alive? Why-" Usopp looked up and saw that every wanted poster had Dead crossed out. What's more is that the ones he recognized were Devil Fruit Eaters.

"Why are they all wanted alive?" Usopp asked and looked at Luffy. Even Luffy's wanted poster was for only Alive.

"Weird." Luffy mused, looking up at the ten foot high board.

"I gotta show Sanji!" Usopp said and started running to where he knew Sanji to be.

As Sanji was walking out of a butchery, Usopp came running up.

"Usopp?" Sanji asked as Usopp stopped in front of him and was panting, bent over onto his knees.

"In... the... square... we... found...," he panted and held up the wanted poster.

Sanji looked at it and shoved the bags into Usopp's arms and took off like a shot towards the ship.

Not more than fifty yards away from the ship, he saw two green haired people walking towards it. The woman was wearing a lime green dress that ended just after her hips with sandals that laced up her lower legs and the man was wearing a button up green shirt with dark green shorts and flipflops.

"Ah crap." he growled and really started running but tripped suddenly and fell straight into the dirt.

He looked down and saw a jade green vine wrapped securely around his right ankle.

"Sanji! You ok?" Usopp cried, running up with the big bags.

"Yeah, get that stupid vine off me, will ya?" he said forcefully, getting up onto his elbows as he watched the green people walk into the ship.

F-O-O-L-S-R-U-S-H-I-N

Sanji, with Usopp trailing behind him, ran up onto the deck and down to the girls' cabin to find it empty.

"Mer? Mer!" Sanji called with no answer.

"Is she there?" Usopp asked from up above.

"No. She isn't..." Sanji trailed off.

"Where would she have gone?" Usopp asked as Sanji came back up, rubbing his forehead.

"I don't know. Does she even know this island? Has she been here before?" Sanji asked these questions as Nami returned.

"What's going on?" she asked at the worried look in Sanji's face.

"Mer's gone." Usopp said simply.

"She ran off when the green people came. I saw them."

"You saw them?" Nami asked, confused.

"Before I got tripped up by a vine wrapped around my ankle!" Sanji barked.

"A vine... wrapped around... your ankle?" Nami repeated, unbelieving.

"Yes!"

There was silence till Luffy bounded up, bringing a few pieces of paper with him.

"I found another one for Mer!" he said, holding up another Wanted Alive poster of Mer. This one was different. It was for 1,700,000. The picture was of Mer except she was smiling happily, like something made her laugh. And the name was for a girl named India Adelle.

"India Adelle? You sure this is Mer?"

"The girl in the picture is the same. It is Mer!" Luffy said, proud of himself.

"Who is India Adelle?" Sanji asked quietly, holding the paper in his hands.

"India Adelle? Does that name ring bells." Zoro mused, walking up the dock beside the ship.

"You know her?" Sanji asked, pointing to the photograph on the poster.

"That's Mer." he said, coming up.

"We know that's Mer! You said you knew India Adelle?" Sanji yelled.

"Shut up and let me talk! Yeah, I was tracking her. She got away, of course. She was with this guy named Mr. Dieux. He's worth a whole lot more than she was. But he wasn't wanted at the time, just her. For assassinating this one Pirate. They must have thought she was Pirate too," Zoro said and shrugged. "That was about four years ago, too."

"Fleur was talking about some guy named Dieux in Snow Town!" Sanji cried.

Chopper came running up in running form, shouting.

"What is it, Chopper?" Nami asked, concern wiping over her face.

"Something in town! There are these people and everybody's running! Scared!" he shouted as he ran up in his little form onto the ship, pointing to the main drag of town where people were running around.

"Let's go, guys!" Luffy said, cracking his knuckles. He'd been looking for a fight.

Zoro smirked, "Excelent! A fight! I've been too restless lately!" and followed Luffy towards town with Sanji in tow, angered.

D-U-C-K-A-N-D-R-U-N

The three caught sight of what the people were running from, or rather... who.

Sauntering down the drag were three women. One was Fleur, wearing a dark green wrap skirt tying at her right hip so her whole side of her leg was exposed. She had black fishnet elbow length gloves on with a spaghetti strap tankini on. She had on the same lace up military style green boots on. Hanging from her shoulder and resting at her left hip was a small purse, also dark green. The other two were new. The one on Fleur's right was wearing a red sleeveless top with the middle tied up like a corset, somewhat open with the strings keeping the top together. Hanging from her hips were a pair of fire red short shorts showing off her crimson red thigh high boots. She had on sleeves connected to a little bit of what looked like a knitted sweater that covered the shoulder blades and that in-between with the collar being a very large amount of dark red fur. She was tan and had on big red sunglasses and her bright red hair was up with braided loops falling from the top back of her head.

On Fleur's left was a girl in all white. She had on elbow length white gloves and in her right hand she was holding a long cigarette holder inbetween her two fingers as it slowly burned at the far end. Her shoes were white heals with the strap going up the middle from the covered toes. She had on a knee length fringed dress and her snow white hair was cut very short and bobbed over her ears. Her skin was a beautiful pale.

What made all three girls the same was the evil menacing face they wore.

Suddenly, Zoro and Sanji belted off to the ship screaming in fear, leaving Luffy all alone in the middle of the road as all the people ran.

"Oh, look, Fleur! A Devil Fruit Eater!" the girl in white said with her tinkling trill of a voice. Luffy was surprised a girl so tiny (she was very short) and frail looking could have shuch a loud voice, even if it was high on the register.

Fleur looked to Luffy and a small smile crept onto her evil face. Her green eyes shined.

"So you're right, Ciel! Who is this one, Tirer?" Fleur asked and the girl in red, not smiling like the other two, looked Luffy over, tilting her head to look him all over.

"Monkey D. Luffy. Captain of the Straw Hat crew. Worth 100,000,000."

Fleur and Ciel exchanged glances, their eyes wide. Ciel's eyes were the palest of blue they were almost white.

"Come with us, Straw Hat! We will take you somewhere." Fleur said, her smile gone, her arm held up and out at her chest level with her hand dangling.

Luffy was about to refuse point blank but felt thick vines crawling up his legs and around his hips and trapping him till he fell to the ground as the people kept running around. His hat falling a few feet away from him.

"H-hat!" he managed to growl before he felt little thorns poke their way into his skin all over and it fell into a deep deep sleep.

"Sure you didn't kill him?" he hear distantly as he was falling.

"I'm sure. Jeez! Wish Mer didn't run off. She use to cary them..."

G-R-O-W-I-N-G-O-N-M-E

As soon as Sanji and Zoro ran up onto the ship's deck, they stopped screaming and started yelling.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

"WHY DID I RUN AWAY!?"

"AM I STUPID OR SOMETHING? WHY DIDN'T I FIGHT!?"

"Why _did_ you guys run?" Nami asked, backing away with Usopp and Chopper.

"I don't know?" Sanji said, panting from all the running.

"Why didn't Luffy run?" Usopp asked, looking over as the crowd thinned and Luffy and the three women weren't to be found.

"Where'd he go?" Nami yelled.

"Who were those women?" Sanji asked, almost dreamily.

"Yeah... who were those women?" Zoro growled, hitting his head on the mast.

"I wish Mer was here. She would probably find out for us." Usopp said quietly.

"I think we should go looking for Luffy." Chopper said suddenly.

"Why?" Zoro asked, looking down on little Chopper.

Chopper blinked a few times, "Because he's our Captain! And we need to find Mer, too!"

"We don't need to. He'll come back." Nami said simply.

"But he just disappeared! Maybe they'll kill him! We need to go save him!" Chopper said, standing his ground and wondering why his friends were acting so weird.

"You know Luffy! He'll be fine!" Sanji said, smiling.

Chopper couldn't believe his ears! How could the entire crew, minus Mer, believe that after Luffy got captured that he'll be perfectly fine? Chopper couldn't believe it so he had to take matters into his own hooves.

"If you guys won't help... I go looking for Luffy on my own!" Chopper said and started marching towards the dock.

He saw something flicker in Zoro's face, "Wait- er- Yeah... you go on ahead... Chopper..." he said as if he were struggling to get the words out, like he was choking.

Chopper stared but set his ground, "I will! Good bye!" he shouted and went into running mode and galloped off towards the town.

F-L-I-G-H-T-O-F-T-H-E-B-U-M-B-L-E-B-E-E

Luffy was in and out of consciousness as he was being carried, still wrapped in vines, somewhere.

He heard snippets of conversation but one conversation took place while he was awake enough to realize they were talking.

"-hate carrying! Stupid Mer had to run. Where did she go, do you know, Ciel?" he heard the bell-like voice ask.

"No," the daintily strong voice answered.

"Hmm." the bell voice mused.

"Hold up your end, I'm getting all the weight over here!" the deep sounding female voice barked.

"Oh calm down, Ti! Dieux will be so pleased when we bring in this thing here." bell voice said, shaking her end of Luffy she held, which happened to be his feet.

"He seems to strong-willed to join up." the deep female voice said.

"Oh he will." bell voice said darkly.

A beat of silence.

"Find her yet, Ciel?" deep female voice asked.

"I haven't been trying, I've been messing with this one's crew members. Apparently I just split one from the group. I couldn't do anything about it, either. He has the power of the Devil Fruit, too." the girl named Ciel said as they kept walking.

"Will this one find us?" the bell voice asked.

"How should I know? I'm not Mer!" Ciel snapped, her dainty voice getting a rough edge to it.

"You certainly aren't." the deep voice said quietly.

Then Luffy fell unconscious again.

B-R-E-A-K-A-W-A-Y

Chopper walked amongst the people in his deer form, looking around as if he were about to see Luffy getting thrown out of a butchery for trying to steal... again. Chopper did find Luffy's hat and had it on over his hat.

He sighed, where was he going to look to find Luffy? Chopper was already deep in the city of Dimuh and had no idea where to look at all.

Chopper looked around and found that he was now sitting in-between two buildings looking out on a deserted dirt road closed in by a bunch of other buildings.

Something disturbed the silence and he quickly looked around and saw a young woman wearing dark blue knee length shorts with a same coloured top that was like a tank top but it only covered her chest, her small midriff exposed. She had on dark blue almost black strapy high healed sandals and a lightweight aqua coloured fishnet coat that was like a trench coat, but made of fishnets. Her pitch black hair was in its long ponytail and her powder blue eyes looked anxious.

Chopper's eyes widened as he watched the young woman walk past him, not seeing him at all, and turning to a door of one of the buildings, taking a deep breath, and entering. Chopper, filled with new found courage, followed swiftly, still in running form.

He followed the girl down a long long long set of stairs till they leveled out in a fantastic looking cave that looked more like a room in a fancy mansion. No windows and way in the back of the room, a man was standing at a roaring fire (it was quite chilly down there) smoking a cigarette and staring into the flames. He had nicely styled black hair and was wearing a suit of all things. He was standing on an elaborate floor rug and surrounding him were antique looking wingback chairs, five of them. One dark blue, one white, one deep green, one blood red and the last black.

There was nothing else in the vast room the size of a football field.

The woman walked down the last set of stairs, only about fifteen and marble with railing of brass. Chopper stayed in the shadows, able to hear the fire perfectly from way back there.

"Ah, you came." the man said, not turning around.

The woman froze, but said in a strong voice, "Why wouldn't I?"

The man stayed staring into the fire, "You have your reasons." he said quietly but Chopper heard him perfectly.

"That's not the point." the woman said sharply.

The man stiffened but did not turn.

"To make things easier on you," she went on smoothly, "I have something for you."

"What is it?" the man growled, clearly getting very frustrated with the woman, who seemed totally oblivious to it, or prepared.

"A crew." she said softly.

Then the man turned around and Chopper saw that he had features that would make any girl swoon. He was exceptionally handsom and charming in his boyish features but with a touch of man to them. His lips were full and his eyes were bright. His cheekbones were high and his body was fit.

"A crew? What kind of crew?" he asked her, not smiling, but speculating with his eyes of her.

"Pirate." she said swiftly.

The man thought on that for a moment.

"If I'm right, and I always am," she said egotistically, "Fleur, Tirer, and Ciel are bringing the captain right now." she said and whipped out Luffy's Wanted poster. It floated quickly over to the man who looked once at it and grinned. His grin would have made a hundred women faint.

"How did you find him?" he asked her happily, grinning from ear to ear.

"I have my ways." the woman hissed.

"Excelent! We shall have to invite them here." he pondered aloud as he started pacing around the wingback chairs.

"I'd rather _not _do that part, if you don't mind." the woman said quickly, making sure she did not have to do that job at all.

"Of course of course," the man brushed off, "I'll send Bleu-"

"I was thinking more on the lines of Joli." the woman said suddenly.

The man looked up and smiled again, "Even better!"

"Good. Oh, and I have another surprise, one of the crew followed me here. Come on out, Chopper." the woman said, turning as she and the man looked directly at Chopper.

* * *

12-10-08

FINALLY! THIS DAMN CHAPTER IS FINISHED!!!

SONGtimE

Why Have You Brought Me Here- from Phantom  
I Caught Myself- Paramore  
Fools Rush In- Bow Wow Wow  
Duck and Run- 3 Doors Down  
Growing On Me- The Darkness  
Flight Of The Bumble Bee- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov  
Breakaway- Kelly Clarkson


	6. The Devils

Chapter Six

Chopper was frozen where he was. He considered belting it out of there.

"Chopper. There's no way to get out of here alive. You're coming with me." the woman in dark blue said, extending her hand as if he were a child to take it.

Chopper stood there, frozen. '_Stupid, stupid Chopper!' _he thought. Suddenly his hooves were sliding along the stone floor and quickly he was flying through the air and he stopped very quickly, nauseatingly quickly, in front of the man.

The man was confused.

"This is a crew memeber? This deer?"

"I'M NOT A DEER, I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper shouted despite the situation, morphing back to little form in the air as the woman walked in.

The man grinned at the woman, who showed no emotion but disdain. The man didn't see it, though it was clearly written all over her face.

"Excellent! Devil Fruit powers and all!" the man sighed with content. "Put him in cell five." the man said, throwing a tiny silver key at the woman, who caught it swiftly without taking her eyes off the man and she and the floating Chopper started leaving the room.

They went up the marble stairs carved out of the bedrock and down a dark passageway, Chopper floating the entier time.

After a few minutes of silence, the woman spoke, "I'm sorry about this, Chopper. But I-"

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS!?" Chopper screamed.

The woman turned her head towards Chopper, pain in her powder blue eyes. "I had to," she whispered, "This is the only way-"

"HAD TO!?" he screamed angrily.

They stopped altogether.

"This is the only way I can get myself freed from that sick bastard!" she shouted, intensely angered.

"Freed?" Chopper asked quietly.

Mer sighed and kept walking again, saying that she would explain as soon as he was in his cell.

"I was thirteen, going as India Adelle then, and Dieux, the man back there, happened upon me and realized how great my powers are. So he told me of his plan for money. Lots and lots of money! Back then I was short on money, only being thirteen and working for a low paying job. So he sweet talked me into his little society of assassins." she explained as soon as Chopper was in the cell.

"Why can't you just run away?" Chopper asked through the bars at Mer, who was sitting on the floor, one leg stretched out the other foot tucked under her knee. She was leaning up against a wall of her own force, not touching the bars, but close so that she and Chopper were conversing in almost whispers. Chopper wasn't touching the bars, knowing them to be made of Sea Prism stones.

Mer's head dropped and she whispered, "That's why you found me in the village back in the jungle. I was trying to run. I'd been gone a year and a half but when Luffy got me to join his crew I knew I was headed for trouble, but it took me a while to realize that you guys are the key to getting me free!"

"What can we do?" Chopper asked.

A-M-E-S-S-A-G-E

Arguing loudly on the deck was the main point for the past couple hours.

"Ah hem?" a small voice asked, causing everyone to shut up and turn to her.

A little girl with shiny blond curls and big brown eyes was standing there in a little floor length silk dress falling in tears from her hips. The dress was a soft pale blue and if she stood beside Sanji, she would come up to the middle of his thigh.

"YOU ARE ADORABLE!" Sanji cried out.

"I have something for you." she said in her little girl voice, causing all the them, even Zoro, to melt.

"What is it?" Sanji asked, crouching down to be eye level with the little girl.

She smiled, blushed, and said, "You're cute!" and giggled a little.

Sanji was a puddle on the deck.

Nami walked up and asked again.

"This. It's an invitation." the little girl said.

Nami looked at the ornate card, reading;

_**Straw Hat Crew,  
**__**I would be pleased if you would join me at my  
**__**home for a formal introduction.  
**__**Sincerely,  
**__**Mr. D.**_

"What do you think, Zoro?" Nami asked as Zoro read over her shoulder.

"Who is this Mr. D?" Zoro asked.

"That is my employer!" the little girl said brightly, her brown eyes shining, causing Sanji's puddle to ripple and melt again.

"Employer? How old are you?" Usopp asked, skeptical.

The girl looked over at Usopp and smiled a small smile, causing Usopp to melt like Sanji.

"Alright. We'll go." Zoro growled.

"Excellent! I shall show you the way!" the little girl said happily, almost bouncing with joy.

"What is your name, little pretty!" Sanji asked sweetly as she led them down to the dock.

"Me? My name is Joli!"

S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G-B-A-D

Chopper watched as Luffy was thrown into the cell along with him.

"Luffy!" Chopper cried, running over to him, despite the size of the cell.

"Uhh... what happened? Where am I? What the hell? Hey! Sea Prism Stone cells! Cool!" Luffy said, totally bi-polar.

"YOU'RE IN A CELL! BE WORRIED!" Chopper screamed and heard someone chuckle.

"You. You're that green girl that Sanji was talking about." Luffy said, walking up to the bars but not touching them.

The girl looked up and grinned sinisterly.

"The name's Fleur. Dela Fleur." she said, shoving herself off the wall and into the light, where they could see she was green from head to foot. Her toe nails were painted lime green.

"Dela? That's Mer's name!" Luffy said excitedly, "Do you know Mer?"

Fleur's eyes darted to him quickly, her face flickering, "You know Mer?" she whispered excitedly.

"She's my crew mate now! My nakama!" Luffy said possessively.

"Oh, I know Mer! I'll go get her for you, if you like!" Fleur said, her voice low, hiding something.

"No! We don't need to see Mer. She's busy," Chopper said quickly, knowing what would happen to Mer if anything didn't go according to plan.

Fleur's head snapped to him, "And how do you know Mer is busy?" she snapped loudly.

"I... I-er- she told me."

Fleur sniffed and left the long cell room and quickly, making her heals snap against the stone, echoing loudly against the walls, made her way to the large room where Dieux was, still.

"Dieux!" she snapped and he turned around, as if expecting her. He had a new cigar this time.

"Fleur. Sit!" he said, his grin returning.

Fleur walked over and sat in her dark green wingback chair. Around her were Ciel, in the snow white wingback, Tirer, in the blood red wingback, and Mer, in the dark blue wingback. Dieux had occupied the black one.

"Now! All my girls are back! How nice it feels!" he said happily, resting his ankle on his knee in a casual manner as he sat there in his pitch black suit.

"Shall we fill Mer in?" Ciel asked, turning to Mer who sat there, looking positively annoyed by it all.

"Not necessary. She probably already knows!" Dieux said, grinning and winking at Mer in the chair at his immediate right.

Mer showed no change.

"Mer has done an excellent thing! She brought in an entier Pirate crew! One with two Devil Fruit Eaters! Well done Mer! Looks like that," he strained his voice as he said, "year and a half away from us was all for good!" he forced a smile.

"Oh yes," Mer said quietly, "It was." she hissed.

Dieux seemed utterly oblivious to her infliction.

"When will they be here?" Tirer asked, leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed across her chest.

"Soon! I sent out Joli to fetch them." Dieux said.

"Where are the boys?" Fleur whined.

As if on que, four young men walked into the room from a secret door on the left side of the fireplace. The same side Fleur and Ciel were sitting on.

The first one was charming in all the right ways. His eyes, his hair, his body, his smile, all appealing. He was wearing a white button up dress shirt with a pale blue tie loosely hanging around his neck. His sport coat was open, also white, matching his slacks and shoes. His hair was bleach blond and longish, hanging in his beautiful blue eyes. He went and stood emphatically on Ciel's left side, between her chair and the fire.

The second one was more introverted looking. He had dark green hair, swept to one side across his forehead showing his blazing green eyes. He had on a green jean jacket over a dark green tanktop, tight enough to show off his slightly muscular chest and abs. He had on dark green jeans hanging off his hips down to his green flip-flops. He had stubble along his jawline and under his nose and had his right arm draped across the wing of Fleur's wingback, standing between her wingback and Ciel's wingback.

Standing at the right side of Tirer's wingback was a man with dark red hair and black eyes. He had on dark red leather fingerless gloves and a long dark red trench coat over a dark dark red tight tee shirt and black pants and black shoes. He was lean and tall and he was leaning up against Tirer's wingback with his left arm draped down the front of it, his hand resting lightly on Tirer's bare shoulder.

Then, standing at idle besides Mer's wingback was a man with metallic blue hair wearing dark blue cargo shorts and dark blue army boots. He had on a tight dark blue shirt, showing off his lean muscle in his chest and stomach. His hands were behind his back as he waited for Dieux to speak.

"Ah, boys! Good. We have a crew coming in. I believe there are four of them. I'm putting them under Vert, Rouge, Blanc, and Tirer's command. There is a girl, so you may have her, Tirer!" he said with a smile in Tirer's direction.

Tirer nodded, her face still in it's somewhat bored tone.

"Vert, you should take the swordsman. He's the most physically strongest. Blanc, you take the blond cook. Second strongest. Bleu, the sharpshooter. Tirer, the young lady has a temper problem, see if you can't... persuade her!" Dieux said with a smile that made Mer's eyes narrow.

Tirer stood up and started walking with her partner, the man in red, and started walking away with Vert, the man in green, and Blanc, the man in the white suit.

Dieux got up, "I'll be taking a nap. I've been up all morning and find myself quite tired!" he said, stretching. He walked to the right side of the fireplace and through a secret door and was gone. Fleur and Ciel got up and went to the left side and through that door.

That just left Bleu and Mer alone.

"I know what you're thinking, Bleu," Mer said quietly as she stood up and walked slowly away from the fireplace and the wingback chairs.

"Then why did you?" he asked, "Why did you leave?" his voice had a note of anger in it, note of curiosity, and a note of concern and worry in it.

"I had to. I had to get away from here!" Mer whispered. Bleu was close now, standing right behind her as she held herself, her hands holding her cold arms.

"_Without telling me?_" Bleu hissed in her ear.

"You just would have begged me not to go. To stay here. Sort things out here instead of running away like the scared little kid that I am." Mer said softly, keeping her voice steady and low toned.

"To keep you safe." He growled, touching her elbows lightly.

"Well you can be happy now. I'm here..." she said and was swiftly heading towards the marble stairs. Bleu standing there watching her go.

S-I-N-C-E-Y-O-U-B-E-E-N-G-O-N-E

Joli led the crew into the building Chopper had followed Mer into, except it was on the other side. The better looking side.

"This is where he lives?" Zoro said, scoffing.

"Oh yes. It's quite nice inside." Joli said, unlocking the door and opening it to the darkness. Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji walked into the darkness to have the door snap shut behind them. Joli not inside.

"What the hell's going on?" Sanji yelled, backing to the wall.

"I don't like this." Zoro said, getting his sword ready.

Suddenly, bright lights started turning on and they found themselves in a small room and standing at the other end were four people. A woman and three men.

"Who the hell are you? Is one of you Mr. D?" Nami shouted, the boys behind her.

"No. We're here to bring you to him." the woman with the deep voice dressed in red said, walking up to Nami.

Nami's eyes narrowed.

"Don't struggle, it'll just end up worse for you all." the woman warned, raising her hand to the level of her eyes.

"How?" Nami hissed.

The woman turned her hand so it was sideways to Nami and suddenly it disappeared, but no! It hadn't! It was a flat as a sheet of paper.

She lifted her pointer finger to Nami's cheek and pressed the length of her finger against Nami's cheek. Nami gasped and suddenly blood was flowing out of the line.

"I can cut through solid rock." the woman said in a hiss and her hand filled out again and grabbed Nami's left upper arm tightly and led her out of the room through a secret door at the opposite end of the room.

"Swordsman. You're with me." the green haired one commanded as he stood there, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking very causal.

"I don't think so." Zoro said, unsheathing one of his swords and was about to slice the man with it, but the man held up his hand as Zoro was about to chop off all his fingers and when he swung into it, the blade bent backwards. The force of the blow was enough to make Zoro loose is grip on the sword. Zoro stared at it as it clanged to the ground in horror.

The green haired man gripped Zoro's muscular upper arm like it was nothing, and Zoro winced in pain as the green haired man led Zoro throught the same door.

All that left was the man in the white suit, the man in the red suit, Sanji, and Usopp.

"What are you gonna do to me?" Usopp coward behind Sanji.

The man in red walked up to Usopp and lightly touched his pinky to the tip of Usopp's nose and suddenly Usopp was screaming a blood curdling scream. Sanji stared in fear and the man in the white suit chuckled a bit.

"I think you made your point, Rouge." the man in white said, smiling slightly.

Rouge picked up his finger and grabbed Usopp's upper arm as Usopp whimpered and twitched a bit. They left through the door.

"What happened?" Sanji asked the man in white.

The man in white chuckled softly again and said, "Rouge can affect the person he touches senses. He probably just made your friend feel like he was on fire!"

Sanji's eye narrowed, "What do you do?"

The man smiled and suddenly was gone.

Then Sanji got punched in the gut.

As Sanji was doubled over, he saw the man reappear in front of him.

"I can become invisible!" the man said and started leading Sanji out of the room.

T-H-E-R-E-A-R-E-W-O-R-S-E-T-H-I-N-G-S-I-C-A-N-D-O

Mer was about to walk out of the room when she heard Dieux.

"Mer. You can not think that you can evade me forever, can you?" Dieux said, anger in his voice.

Mer turned slowly to glare at Dieux, who was standing beside Bleu.

"What? What do you think I'm doing?" Mer asked, accusing.

"You're trying to be rid of me. You've hated me for a long time now. Well you can't do it, Mer. Nobody can." he hissed the last part.

Mer smirked, "You think you're so special." she spat angrily.

Dieux turned his head to Bleu and nodded once. Suddenly Mer was flying through the air. She could feel the force on her till about the middle of the room when it let go and let her fly into the solid bedrock.

Bleu turned to watch her fly and when she hit the wall he flinched. Dieux watched, not even batting an eyelash.

Mer picked herself up slowly from the floor, grimacing from the pain.

"Damn it, Bleu! You've been in this the whole time, HAVEN'T YOU!" Mer screamed as she steadied herself on the wall.

Bleu said nothing but his face gave away that he ment nothing. He was in as much emotional pain as Mer was in physical.

"I think she should fly across the room again, Bleu." Dieux commanded and suddenly Mer was flying again and hitting the opposite wall. She definitely heard something break that time as she fell from the high section of the wall to the hard floor.

Mer watched as Dieux and Bleu walked over.

"Pick her up." Dieux said and Bleu, using Mer's powers, lifted Mer off the floor into a standing position.

"Now," Dieux said, removing one of his clean white gloves, "Take her to cell six. You won't need to watch her after that. She won't be able to escape that cell." Dieux said, holding out his ungloved hand. Bleu touched it with one finger and suddenly Mer felt very very weak.

Dieux left towards the fireplace to his rooms as Bleu tried to take hold of Mer's arm to help support her. She jerked her arm away, snapping her shoulder in the process. She kept her scream down, clenching her teeth.

"Come on, Mer. Before he comes over to see why we're taking so long." Bleu whispered, still using the borrowed power of Mr. Dieux to incapacitate Mer's powers.

Mer gave him a glare of death, but started walking as well as she could, despite the pain.

"I'm so sorry." Bleu whispered to her, not touching her.

"Nothing could possibly make me forgive you!" Mer hissed as they walked into the darkness beyond the marble stairs.

* * *

12-14-08

TWO YEARS!

SongtImE

A Message- Coldplay  
Something Bad- From Wicked  
Since You Been Gone- Kelly Clarkson  
There Are Worse Things I Can Do- From Grease

DEVIL FRUIT POWERS! (**Boys, **_Girls,_Leader. In order by rank)

Partners are Mer and Bleu, Fleur and Vert, Tirer and Rouge, and Ciel and Blanc.

Dieux's Powers = Acts like a Sea Prism Stone. Can totally incapacitate a Devil Fruit eater's powers (Ryuu Ryuu no Mi)

_Mer's Powers = Telepathic Telekinesis (Omoi Omoi no Mi)_

**Bleu's Powers = Ability to mimic another person's Devil Fruit Power within the hour after touching them (Mozou Mozou no Mi) **

_Fleur's Powers = Total Control of Plants (Shokubutsu Shokubutsu no Mi)_

**Vert's Powers = Super Physical Strength (Kei Kei no Mi)**

_Tirer's Powers = Ability to make any part of her body as flat as paper and as strong as steel (Furatto Furatto no Mi)_

**Rouge's Powers = Ability to distort a person's senses by touching them (Waikyoku Waikyoku no Mi)**

_Ciel's Powers = Ability to affect people's emotions using her own mind (Munesanzun Munesanzun no Mi)_

**Blanc's Powers = Ability to make himself or anything he wants intangible and/or invisible (Rei Rei no Mi)**


	7. The Battle of The Devils

Chapter Seven

Luffy and Chopper watched silently as Bleu led Mer past their cell.

They did, however, leap up to see through the bars on where she was going. Through a small cell door a few feet away from the end of their larger cell.

"I'm so so sorry, Mer." they heard Bleu say.

Mer didn't reply but walked into the small cell and instantly fell to her knees and sat down on the floor.

As soon as Bleu was out of the hallway, Mer let out a terrible scream of pain.

"Mer? What is it?" Chopper cried out to her through the bars.

Mer was now laying on the floor, holding her shoulder and arm.

"Broken!" she managed to bark out through her cries of pain, "My shoulder! My arm! My ankle!" she yelled.

"You walked in here, it can't be that bad? Maybe just sprained?" Chopper suggested through her cries.

"No! It's broken! I heard it crack when I hit the wall!" she cried out, tears falling onto the floor.

"What did they do to you, Mer?" Luffy asked seriously.

Mer turned her face towards Luffy and retold the entier story. How she worked for Mr. Dieux. How Bleu's power worked. How Dieux's powers work. How the rest of them have the rest of the crew. Everything.

Luffy's head was down, his hat masking the anger on his face.

"I can't do anything. I'm completely powerless in this cell."

"You're not touching the bars?" Chopper stated, confused.

"The entier cell is made of Sea Prism Stones. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, the cell..." she said, grasping control on her cries of pain.

"So it's like you're in-"

"Water. I'm floating in the abyss but I can breath, so I can not die in here." she said darkly.

"Where are the others?" Luffy asked quietly, but Mer heard him.

"I don't know," she said in a half whisper, "I'm blind in here. I don't even know what you two are thinking!"

I-T-S-A-G-R-E-A-T-D-A-Y-T-O-B-E-A-L-I-V-E

Three women and three men stood at the ready as Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro sat in the wingback chairs. Zoro thought he saw a hint of disgust in the green woman's face. Zoro looked about and saw that he was sitting in the green chair. Sanji was in the white chair, Nami in the red one, Usopp in the blue one.

"Ah! Welcome, Straw Hat Crew!" a man said brightly, coming out from a secret door beside the massive fireplace.

"Who are you?" Nami snapped, her hand still at her face. She had a piece of cloth up to her bloody cheek, having ripped it from the bottom her tanktop she was wearing.

"I am Mr. Dieux, Miss Nami!" he said, smiling that charming smile of his.

"You know my name?" Nami asked, looking at him with a confused look.

"Who wouldn't know the name of such a pretty lady!" Dieux said, smiling at Nami, who blushed and giggled.

Zoro watched the reactions of the six people standing there, the girl in green looked like she was about to barf.

"Where's Luffy and Chopper?" Zoro asked the man, who was kissing Nami's hand. Sanji beside her looked like he could kill the man.

"Your captain? Haven't seen him!" Dieux said pleasantly.

Sanji and Zoro exchanged glances.

"Mer is in her cell now, sir. The one next to the Straw Hat and the Reindeer, like you said." a male voice called from the other end of the room.

Dieux's face was livid. The other six looked shocked and scared.

"Thank you," Dieux said stiffly, "Bleu." he looked as if he could kill Bleu. The crew turned in their seats to see the man in blue. Bleu looked very very smug.

"Where is she?" Sanji demanded.

"Where are Luffy and Chopper?" Nami demanded.

"Ok, ok." Dieux said, putting his hands up in surrender. "We put them in cells. Ciel, show them to the cells." Dieux said, throwing the girl in the white flapper dress a ring of keys.

"Follow me, please." Ciel said in her trill of a voice and started walking.

The four followed the flapper as she led them out of the room.

As soon as they rounded the dark corner past the stairs, Fleur burst, "HOW COULD YOU, BLEU!?" she screamed, Vert holding her back.

"The same way I managed to follow Dieux's orders and hurt Mer." Bleu said, standing up to Fleur.

"You know she deserved what she got!" Fleur yelled, shaking off Vert. He let go instantly, as if afraid of her.

"She did not!" Bleu protested, "She's better than all of us here! Even you know that!"

Fleur glared and reached into the purse at her side and threw out suddenly to the ground a handful of dirt.

Bleu started running to her but was too late as an octopus of thick green vines shot out of the little pile of dirt.

One of the vines twisted itself around Bleu's body and lifted him up into the air and threw him at the wall, hitting the same spot Mer had before.

Bleu slid to the floor, smiling darkly as he lifted himself up slowly off the floor. He was hunched slightly, letting his arms dangle as suddenly the vines sunk back into the dirt as if they had never been there before, and a giant violent purple Venus Flytrap sprung out, aiming at Fleur herself.

Fleur swore loudly as the flower aimed itself at her.

"HOW COULD I BE SUCH AN IDIOT?" she screamed as she remembered that Bleu, if he touches a person he acquires their Devil Fruit power for an hour, and if he touches that which is being controlled by their Devil Fruit power then he can also acquire the power that way, too.

"You've always been, Fleur!" Bleu shouted happily, darkly, as he kept trying to get the flower to snap and eat her. All it was doing was snapping as she dodged out of it's way, leaping about.

"YOU COULD HELP, YOU KNOW!" Fleur screamed at the other four standing there.

"How are we suppose to fight Bleu?" Vert yelled, "We touch him, he's just like us!"

"THEN DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Fleur screamed, avoiding the flower yet again but jumping onto it.

"WE'RE NOT MER!" Blanc yelled.

Tirer ran after Bleu.

"CAT O' NINE TAILS!" she screamed, whipping her long now steel strong hair at Bleu, nicking his hand has he tried to jump back away from her. But that light whip, which got his hand to be bleeding profusely in thin little lines all down his hand, was enough to earn him Tirer's power.

His hand was now as flat as paper and strong as steel (while still bleeding) as he ran up to Tirer and pimp slapped her across the room causing her to slide across the floor and smash into the wall.

"YOU JERK!" Rouge yelled, running up and smacking his hand down on Bleu's normal arm quickly and hearing Bleu's screams of pain as his skin felt like it was being stabbed at every square millimeter by blazing hot knives and his eyes being gorged out of their sockets.

Slowly, Bleu, despite the pain he was feeling, raised his hand up to Rouge's bare hand and suddenly Rouge was the one screaming in pain, feeling the exact same thing as Bleu had been feeling.

"Rouge!" Bleu heard Tirer yell in pain and anger as she watched him wither in pain.

Rouge slowly inched towards the floor and when he was laying on it, Bleu let go and stood up over him as Rouge lay there, panting like he had just sprinted 20 laps in a pool.

"None of you can beat me. You all know that. So why are you still trying?" Bleu said cockilly with a hint of the dark side in there.

"Why are you doing this, Bleu?" Fleur demanded as she stood there, hunched slightly over her dirt pile.

"Because Mer was right. You are all evil." Bleu said.

"SIR! SIR! THEY ESCAPED!" Ciel screamed, running into the room, her heals clicking loudly on the marble floor.

Dieux, who had been watching silently from beside the fireplace walked into view, "HOW!?" he bellowed at her, striking his hand through the air.

Ciel tripped to her knees, feeling the force taken away from her. She replied, sobbing, "I! I don't know?"

"WEREN'T YOU USING YOUR POWERS?" Dieux screamed, walking towards her.

"I...? I was!" she sobbed. Blanc running over to comfort her.

"_Then how did they escape?!_" Dieux hissed.

Ciel was staring up at Dieux with glossy eyes, Blanc down on one knee beside her.

Dieux slowly took out a long ornate looking knife and admired it in the glow of the fire. The red splayed across the blade making it look like blood.

Slowly, he situated the blade beneath Ciel's jaw line.

Bleu smirked at what happened next.

Ciel disappeared along with Blanc.

Dieux swung madly but there was nothing there to hit. They were gone.

K-R-Y-P-T-O-N-I-T-E

The invisible and intangible Ciel and Blanc ran through the dark twisting hallways till they found what they were looking for, the Straw Hats.

"Keep quite, Ciel," Blanc whispered to her. When Blanc was in this state, he could see anything he was making invisible and sometimes anything else that was invisible. But most of the time the only other thing that was invisible was the thing he was making invisible and if it was a person, they could see him. He could see that Ciel was still crying.

She nodded.

He let go of her hand and made himself visible and solid again and walked up to the Straw Hats, earning a kick in the face by Sanji.

"That's for the punch before!" Sanji roared.

"Hold it!" Blanc yelled, realigning his jaw. "I'm here to help you!"

A blade was at his newly aligned chin, "Why should we believe you?" Zoro growled.

"Bet ya Mer could tell if he was lying." Usopp muttered.

"Mer! Yeah! I can take you to Mer! I can take you to your Captain and the other one, too! I know where they are!"

Nami, Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp exchanged hard glances.

"Why are you helping us?" Nami demanded.

"Because-"

"Bleu was right." the light trill of a voice sounded from nowhere.

"What the hell was that?" Zoro barked.

Blanc made Ciel visible and had to leap in front of her to prevent her from getting hurt by the crew, who nearly killed her at the sight.

"She's with me!" Blanc yelled.

"We can't trust you!" Nami shouted.

Blanc sighed and looked at Ciel, "Trust us till we take you to Mer, then you ask her if we're lying." Blanc said.

They deliberated.

Zoro growled when he said, "Fine. Take us to Mer."

I-D-O-N-T-L-I-K-E-I-T-L-I-K-E-T-H-I-S

The invisible crew and Blanc and Ciel walked into the cell chamber and walked down to the end where they found Luffy and Chopper playing cards and Mer still as death on the floor in hers.

"Luffy? Where did you get those cards?" Nami asked, forgetting she was invisible.

"Who said that?" Luffy shouted, Chopper screaming in fright, Mer's eyes shooting open.

"MAKE US VISIBLE!" Nami screamed.

"Oops!" Blanc said and turned them all visible again.

"Hey, guys! Wanna get us out?" Luffy asked as Chopper foamed at the mouth and fell to the floor.

The crew turned to Ciel and Blanc.

"We can't touch the bars." Ciel said.

"They're made of Sea Prism Stones." Blanc added.

"How do we get them out then?" Sanji asked as he stood beside Mer's small cell door. She was still laying on the floor, but her head was tilted towards Sanji.

"The key." Ciel and Blanc replied.

"Where is it?" Nami asked bluntly.

"Dieux only gave one to himself and his top two. Mer and Bleu."

"Mer! You have a key? Why didn't you just let yourself out?" Sanji asked, looking at her through the bars.

"Because she's in the special cell. The only cell that has not only the bars made of Prims stones, but the floor, the walls... the ceiling."

Mer managed to nod.

"What happened to you?" Sanji asked her, placing his hand on her forehead.

"She was fighting agaist Bleu at Dieux's orders. Bleu had her powers then." Ciel replied.

"What?"

"Bleu, if he touches someone with a Devil Fruit power then he has that power for an hour. It's very very tough to defeat him. I've never seen it happen before since knowing him." Blanc explained.

"So if he touched me he could go Gomu Gomu too?" Luffy asked, excited.

"Yes, he could." Ciel said.

"COOOOOOOOOL!" Luffy shouted, bouncing up and down.

"Where is your key, Mer?" Sanji asked her.

"It's hidden in my hair." Mer said, moving her head so the ponytail was facing Sanji.

"Where in your hair?"

"Undo it and you'll find it." Mer said.

Sanji reached in and gently untied the light blue ribbon that was keeping Mer's long black hair up. It splayed around as he held up the ribbon to find the key, a tiny little silver key the size of a pinky nail, tied to the end of it.

Blanc took it from him and slid it into a tiny crack in one of the bars.

They all heard the tumblers shift and click and the door swung open.

Sanji bent over and picked Mer up off the floor.

"What do we do now?" Ciel asked as Blanc opened the door up for Luffy and Chopper.

"We kill the Dieux guy." Luffy said, swinging his arm around at the shoulder.

"How do we do that? He's still got Fleur, Vert, Tirer, and Rouge on his side! Not to mention his own powers!" Blanc said, flabbergasted.

"Don't worry. We'll defeat him."

"What about Bleu?" Mer asked from Sanji's arms. Her fishnet robe was gone.

"I don't know. We were fighting against him after he came back but I don't know what happened to him after we fled." Blanc said.

"You guys were fighting against him?" Mer asked in a whisper, astonished.

"Yeah. He was really upset about what he had to do to you." Blanc said and watched Mer's face light up.

"Sanji! Let me down!" she said.

"Can you walk, Mer-chan?" Sanji asked, holding her tighter, but she floated away and set herself down.

"GOD does that feel good to be able to do that again! Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm keeping myself up!" she said and started walking down the corridor, Luffy and Zoro behind her, eager for a fight.

The other glanced around but followed.

I-D-O-N-T-W-A-N-T-T-O-M-I-S-S-A-T-H-I-N-G

Bleu fell to the floor finally after behing smashed by Vert's epically strong punch. Blood flowed from his nose and mouth and one of his eyes was swollen. Dieux was preventing Bleu to gain any of Vert's powers while Vert was using his freely. Fleur, Tirer, and Rouge watched, very loyal to Dieux.

"Enough, Vert. I think he gets it." Dieux said darkly, walking past Vert and patting him on the shoulder as he went towards where Bleu lay crumpled on the floor.

"Do you get now what you have done, Bleu?" Dieux hissed into Bleu's ear.

"Why don't you just kill me, it'll spare you the problem!" Bleu spat at him, getting blood on his shiny black shoes.

"But your power is so unique! It would be more of a loss than a gain." Dieux said mockingly.

"You can't control me. You can't control anyone with a brain! You've never been able to control me or Mer and now you've lost Ciel and Blanc. You're pathetic!"

Dieux, angered so much, he kicked Bleu in the face before stalking back off.

Vert cracked his knuckles as Rouge flexed his fingers.

Suddenly, they couldn't move.

Then Dieux stopped.

"What the hell?" he shouted, turning around suddenly not on his doing.

Then he saw the line.

Sanji tapping the toe of his shoe, Zoro tying his bandanna, Usopp bringing his goggles down, Nami fixing her staff, Mer just standing there, Blanc and Ciel looking menacing, Chopper standing there, transfixed, and Luffy standing a few feet ahead of them all, slowly placing his hat on his head.

"So you got them out of their cells. Bravo!" Dieux shouted angrily, "What are you going to do to me now? Or have you forgotten that I can take away your powers with a snap of my fingers?"

"So what if you can? We're still gonna kick your ass." Luffy said, his fists on his hips.

Dieux let out a very loud, "HA!"

"We will." Luffy insisted.

"Destroy them."

Fleur, Tirer, Rouge, and Vert ran at the line.

Tirer went after Zoro.

"Blade against blade." She said, her blood hair down.

"You don't have any swords, so it's not very fair." Zoro said, not really caring that it wasn't fair.

"I have more swords than you do, Roronoa Zoro... in a way." Tirer replied sinisterly.

Zoro's eyes narrowed.

"Oh really?"

Slowly, Tirer's arms flattened in front of Zoro's eyes as they popped watching.

Tirer shrieked as she leapt at Zoro, slicing her arms through the air at him.

Zoro then stuck up one of his swords and started sword fighting her sword style.

Sanji turned to see Vert standing in front of him.

"Come on, curly q!" Vert said, moving his fingers in the 'come closer' motion, egging Sanji on.

Sanji sighed and suddenly kicked Vert in the face.

Vert coughed and blood spurted out, "Wow. What a powerful kick... that actually hurt?" he said, confused, but suddenly sprang forward and puched Sanji in the gut.

Nami and Usopp were against Rouge.

"Oh crap! It's the torture guy!" Usopp shouted, hiding behind Nami instantly.

Rouge smirked, "Hello, pretty lady!"

Nami pole vaulted herself to kick Rouge in the face, but he quickly grabbedf her ankle and she started screaming as he swung her around and threw her.

"What did you do to her?" Usopp cowered.

"Electrocuted her!" Rouge said, laughing, coming towards Usopp.

"Uhh uhh! USOPP FIRE BALL!" he yelled and sling shot a small bright orange ball at Rouge's face. It burst and suddenly Rouge was on the floor screaming as the hot sauce, pepper, and coal dust seeped into his eyes.

"USOPP HAMMER!"

Mer and Fleur were staring each other down.

"Oh, Fleur! You knew you could never be his right hand so WHY WERE YOU ALWAYS TRYING?" Mer screamed.

"YOU WERE ALWAYS STEALING THE GLORY AND YOU NEVER CARED! I WAS THE MOST LOYAL! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS RIGHT HAND!" Fleur screamed, throwing dirt to the floor and lifting huge tree thick vines out of it.

They twisted towards Mer but she lifted herself away and out of their reach, ducking a dodging and weaving around them with her mind.

"I'm more powerful than you! I've always been more powerful than you! GET OVER IT!" Mer screamed back.

Out of nowhere a vine came down and batted Mer out of the air. She hit the ground hard.

Fleur walked over to her, a giant rock bolder hovering over her, and as she was about to swing it down onto Mer's head, it fell from the air.

Blood curdling screams were heard over by Zoro as Tirer's arms suddenly went back to normal and Zoro cut them off right above the elbows.

Vert was suddenly getting his ass kicked as Sanji kicked him across the room, crashing into the wingback chairs.

Rouge was already dead from all the blunt forces of Usopp's hammer.

"ONI GIRI!" Zoro yelled and Tirer was gone.

One last smash down kick from Sanji to Vert's head and he was dead, too.

"What's happening? DIEUX!?" Fleur screamed, feeling her powers gone.

"It's not... me?" he said from where he was still in the air, feeling his powers gone, too.

Mer turned her head to see Bleu smiling from where he was laying on the floor.

Fleur's livid face turned to Bleu and she let out a shriek of anger and started running towards him.

She passed Zoro and grabbed one of his swords and with it stabbed down into Bleu's chest, jamming the blade into the floor.

"BLEU!" Mer screamed, getting up as best she could and crawling over to him quickly.

"Bleu!" she said shakily as the tears started coming.

"It's ok... Mer!" he said stiffly, trying to get the words out. "It's ok!"

"No!" Mer said, chocking her tears as best she could, but failing.

Bleu smiled at her and placed his hand at her cheek, wiping away a tear.

"I'll see you later, Mer." he said softly, still smiling at her, as if he would see her the next day.

Mer clutched his hand to her face till finally his breath was gone, his eyes were shut. He was dead.

The entier room was silent. Everyone was frozen. Mer wasn't moving as she crouched there on one knee. Till finally-

_CRACK!_

Fleur started screaming as she fell to the floor, clutching at her legs which were both bent at odd angles.

Dieux then fell to the floor with a clatter. He started running but was picked up and thrown into the roaring fire, his screams penetrating.

Mer stood up slowly, her eyes hard and set on Fleur. Fleur was busy trying to inch away but Mer picked her up and threw her at the wall. Then threw her at another wall and another wall and another wall till Fleur was on the floor, unable to move.

Mer then took the sword out of Bleu's heart and walked slowly over to where Fleur was, ignoring Dieux's screams. The crew was frozen.

"Hello... and good bye, Fleur." Mer said and stabbed the sword down into Fleur's heart.

She then walked back, slowly, over to Bleu's body, laid down beside it, and cried.

W-H-E-N-L-O-V-E-I-S-G-O-N-E

"You can come sit, Nami." Mer said as she sat with her knees drawn up to her chin on the ground. She was wearing jeans and a pale blue shirt. Her black razor cropped hair was blowing in the slight breeze up on the shaded hill. Mer was sitting before a makeshift wooden cross and freshly dug earth.

"I'm sorry, Mer." Nami said quietly, sitting indian style beside Mer.

Mer sighed. The past 24 hours had been more of a blur to her. Taking Bleu's body up to the hill, digging the hole and placing him in it gently, and then taking the sword that had killed him and Fleur and cutting off her long ponytail with the pale blue ribbon keeping it together off her head. She lowered that onto Bleu's body and buried him herself. With the sword, after burying him, she finished cutting her hair so it didn't look so choppy. So her hair was now in a razor cropped style. Covering her ears and hanging low in her eyes.

"You understand. If any of the boys were here, I probably would have told them to leave. But you understand this burial."

"My mother." Nami whispered, looking at the fresh dirt as it dug up memories she'd rather have not thought of ever. Then she remembered that Mer could see what she was seeing.

Mer took a deep breath again and stretched her legs out in front of her. She had taken her flip flops off.

"You know... Mer's not my real name." Mer said as she looked up at the deep blue sky with its big puffy white clouds.

Nami turned to her, "Oh? What is it?" thinking of India Adelle.

"I don't know. It's not India Adelle, that's just one of those that I went by for a while."

"How do you not know your real name?"

"My earliest memories are on the Grand Line with, who I consider, my mother. She told me I was actually born in the South Blue. But I was brought out of there as the island I lived on was having a violent revolution. My birth mother got me out of there, but nobody knows what happened to her after that. My mother found me when I was 18 months old as the ship that held those that left the island entered into the Grand Line. She named me India because she told me they couldn't remember my real name. I was with her till I was six. I was kidnaped and brought into the whole new world of piracy. But the odd thing is that I don't remember ever eating the Devil Fruit."

"Why haven't you told us this before?" Nami asked as Mer finished her speech.

"I couldn't. I was still tied to Dieux then. Now I'm not. So I can freely be on the crew. I'm sorry I put you all in danger like that."

"I'm sure Luffy loved it all." Nami brushed off.

"Heh! He did." Mer said, smiling for the first time in a long time.

"Shall we return to the ship?" Nami asked after a few minutes of silence.

Mer sighed, "Sure. Hold on a minute, though?"

Nami stood there as Mer picked up Zoro's white sword and stood over the grave.

"I'll see you later, Bleu." Mer said and she and Nami walked back to the ship.

12-21-08

How sad...

SOngTimE

It's a Great Day To Be Alive- Travis Tritt

Kryptonite- 3 Doors Down

I Don't Like It Like This- The Radio Dept.

I Don't Want To Miss A Thing- Aerosmith

When Love is Gone- from The Muppet Christmas Carol


	8. Rivers on Fire

Chapter Eight

"Am I finally healed, Chopper?" Mer asked as Chopper took off the long ace bandage that had been keeping her shoulder from moving the past couple weeks.

"Not entirely. Just keep watch on it and don't strain it so much and you'll be fine by the end of this week!" Chopper said, giving her another pill that she swallowed, annoyed. She hated pills. According to her, they made her think of when she was traveling with the Scientist who had called her Esme.

Mer sighed as she rolled her shoulder to stretch it out after having it immobile for a full two weeks. She had returned to the ship to find Chopper, Luffy, and Zoro ready to attack her. Apparently, Chopper had put Luffy and Usopp up to it, but Usopp refused, stating he was way to afraid of Mer's powers to do such a thing, so Zoro agreed, saying he needed his sword back anyway.

They had grabbed her and hauled her below where Chopper gave her a drug making her immobile as he fixed her arms and shoulder and leg.

Being immobile except for the face, she passed the time by telling the crew about her life.

"_After I was kidnaped, they asked me my name and I was too afraid to tell them. I was six, for God's sake! So they called me Otome. The Captain liked me, so he made me his honorary daughter. The crew was wrapped around my little finger. It was fun till when I was around eight or so, I got lost and the Scientist found me. He immediately called me Esme and took me onto his ship, which was more of a lab then a ship. He was the only one on there and he taught me so much about not only science but literature and art and math and history. I ran away from him after a year. So when I was nine, almost ten, I was on my own for a while. Moving around from place to place, staying with people sometimes (I barely remember most of them, there were so many), and I found that to suck after a while so I got out of the Grand Line by way of a passenger ship (I snuck on and stole a ticket from this old man who was asleep). I was in the East Blue and working as a waitress on the Barati. Remember me, Sanji?"_

"_You were on the Barati? I don't remember you?" Sanji said loudly._

"_That was the first name I chose myself. I was calling myself Nakai then. I was ten and I was there for about a month." Mer said._

_Sanji's eye narrowed, "You," he smiled slightly and dropped his head, shaking it as he chuckled, "You! Little Miss Okkuu! But you had your mind powers, why didn't you use them to carry the trays? You would have saved us a LOT of cleaning and dish replacing." Sanji said, annoyed._

"_Ehh... I didn't feel like letting anybody else know I had those powers... though it would have been easier, wouldn't it?" Mer said, smirking at the memories of annoying the blond._

"_What happened after the Barati?" Usopp asked, intrigued by Mer's story._

"_I stowed away on a ship and they stopped at this island that happened to be having a Circus at it. The Devil's Circus, ever heard of it? I was part of that till I was fourteen. They called me Adelle. I was sometimes an acrobat and sometimes a Mind Teaser. I would take people from the audience and read their thoughts. They would either be so shocked, annoyed, excited, or all three! But when I was fourteen, I met Dieux who offered me a job using my talents at their best. I was young and stupid, so don't blame me for going with him. That was back when I had a more conscious rule over my powers. But after I met Dieux, I used them whenever I pleased. Like letting my mind wander and hearing everyone's thoughts, not just a few people or just myself. It felt good. Then because of that I learned just what Dieux was planning and I tried to escape. My first attempt was unplanned and I was pretty much thinking he'd let me go. No. He wouldn't. So I had to get creative. I tried four times before I managed to get to where you guys found me to escape. But his powers were too great."_

"_What about being wanted?" Zoro asked._

"_With Dieux, I killed a few marines and they learned of my powers so I was instantly wanted. But Dieux was still in search for Devil Fruit eaters like Fleur and Vert and them so he managed to get to a Navy Base and changed all the Devil Fruit wanted posters to just alive so he could attain them if he found them worthy." Mer said, slightly disgusted._

"_He called you Mer, then?" Nami added._

"_At my request. It was tradition to myself to change my name whenever I went somewhere new for a while. I came up with it myself and I gotta say. I really like it! It's the name I've been using the longest next to India."_

Mer walked into the kitchen.

"Hello, Sanji." she said, shutting the door.

Sanji turned, "Ah! Mer-chan! Hello! How is your shoulder?"

Mer subconsciously reached for her right shoulder and said, "Better."

"That's good!"

"What's for lunch?"

"Something light. Some ham sandwiches and salad."

"That sounds good." Mer said, leaning up against the wall.

'_Will Luffy ever learn to stop asking me when an island is coming up! Yes! We've got one coming up in a couple hours! Gosh! Can't he hear that once?' _Nami was thinking out on deck.

"Ooo! An island is coming up in a couple hours!"

"I'm sorry, Mer, but I find it a bit creepy that you can hear our thoughts." Sanji said.

Mer smiled, "I got that all the time. But if it makes you feel any better," Mer raised her right hand, "I won't continuously listen."

"Thank you." Sanji said in a shocked tone, not expecting her to swear that she would stop listening.

"Oh, I haven't stopped listening. I just won't be listening all the time. I can shut it off, you know? Then I can listen to a single person when I want. But when I have it on and I'm not looking for someone, I get everybody's thoughts all at once. Like standing in the middle of a crowded room and hearing everybody talk, but they're not talking to each other, they're just talking. Sometimes it gets annoying and when there's a lot of people, I usually keep to one person."

"If a person gets further away, do their thoughts fade like a voice?" Sanji asked.

"Oh no. You could be five miles away (cuz I know your voice) and I could hear you like you were right next to me. After five miles... well... it depends on the person. Sometimes if they get exactly five miles away their voice is gone," she snapped, "just like that. Or sometimes it fades away with distance? I guess it all depends on the person."

"Can you talk to people through your mind?" Sanji asked. He was curious. She hadn't really explained her powers very much. They weren't like Luffy or Chopper's where you could see how their powers worked.

"No. I've tried, but if I can, I don't know how." Mer explained.

"How limited is your moving abilities?"

Mer sighed, in thought, "Well... I've been able to move a huge marine ship before... but that was a long while ago and I don't know if my powers have strengthened since then?"

"Oh. Can you move something in a different room while you're in here?"

Sanji's question was answered by Luffy floating into the room. It looked like a hook was hooked onto the back of his shorts and he was hanging. He was enjoying it, though.

"COOL!" he yelled as Mer set him down.

"Yes. I can!" Mer said, grinning.

L-E-T-I-T-B-E

"Cool hat!" Mer exclaimed as she and Luffy were walking past a hat shop on the new island. The island was called Stnemele. It had narrow crowded cobblestone streets and all the buildings were made of sandstone. The streets were raised a foot above little rivers in the middle of the streets. People were in them, using them as more streets, with gondolas and row boats and water bikes, pedaling through the water. Mer explained, from listening to the people's thoughts, that the entier island was one big city and that it all floated above a fresh water spring. The streets were made that way so people could have access to the fresh water.

"This is a cool place!" Luffy said as Mer came out of the shop with her new, purple-maroon coloured fedora.

"This is! I've never seen a place like this before... It's kinda like the Riveria I was at with the Scientist. Except they didn't have sidewalks like this and only a few roads were like this." Mer explained as they crossed a cobblestone bridge.

"Hey, Luffy, I never did tell you my dream, did I?" Mer said as they continued walking. Luffy following his noes. They were both hungry.

"Nope!" Luffy said.

"Well... you'll think of me as sort of odd, but I want to learn how to swim."

"But we're-"

"Hammers, I know. But still! I want to find a place where I can swim! It's the one thing I've never been able to do in my life!"

Luffy smiled. "I probably can't swim even if I could!"

Mer laughed. "Your childhood confirms that! Anchor!"

Laughing, they followed Luffy's nose to a restaurant. As they were walking up, someone was thrown out of the door.

"AND YER STAY OOT, YER FREAK 'O NATUR!" a man, most likely the owner of the restaurant, yelled as the person who was thrown out got up.

It was a girl. A girl in dark green cut off pants with brown flip-flops. Her black hair was flipped up at the ends where they rest at chin length. She had on a lime green tanktop, showing her toned arms. She was thin and average height (though shorter than Mer's 5'5") and had pretty vibrant green eyes that shined in the warm sunlight.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" She yelled back at the man as he threw her worn brown rucksack at her as it landed in her gut as she sat on the ground.

"I TOL YER TA NEVAH COM BAH IN 'ERE! AN' YER LISEN SIS TIME TOO!"

He slammed the door and the street went on its way again. The girl shoved herself up and swung the bag around to her back violently and started on her way.

Luffy and Mer exchanged glances and Luffy went into the small café sized restaurant. Mer went after the girl.

"Hey!" Mer said as she caught up to her.

"Yeah? What do you want?" she said bitterly.

"Why did he throw you out?" Mer asked.

"What's it to you?"

"I'm curious. Though I could find out in about three seconds." Mer said, shrugging.

The green girl eyed Mer with her vicious green eyes. "How?" she said, the curiosity burning in her voice.

Mer grinned, and read.

"I can read minds. See! You got thrown out because the owner thinks you're a devil woman. Knowing you to have powers beyond a normal person's... but you can swim?" Mer said, her tone changing completely.

"Yeah. I can swim." the girl said bluntly, stopping at the top of one of the arched stone bridges.

"So you have all the powers of a Devil Fruit... but you can swim?" Mer said, her tone soft and questioning, longing.

"It's a long story, but you didn't just prove you can read minds. Lots of people know that."

Mer dug a little deeper.

"You're sixteen. Your name is Mei Kerii. You can swim."

"Come on. That's common knowledge!" the girl said, unbelieving.

"You had to watch your parents be killed by angry mobs as a guard pulled you from the rubble of the fallen palace." Mer said darkly.

The girl, Kerii, froze.

"How did you know?" she whispered.

"I just told you. I read minds." Mer said, shrugging.

H-E-Y-J-U-D-E

"So tell me what happened." Mer said as they sat on the walls of the bridge, their feet dangling ten feet above the water. They were both wearing flip-flops. Mer in a bright red shirt and jeans. Her butched hair blowing in the slight breeze. From where they were they could see the ocean.

"It was ten years ago. My family was the ruling family on this island and way way WAY back when when my great great great great great great great something-or-other grandpa was the first king, he had eaten a Devil Fruit. He can control the earth around him. That's why everything is made from natural elements of the earth like stones and sandstone and the water is because his wife, my great great-you know-grandma, could control water. But the gene for controlling earth was a lot stronger, so it passed down the line better then the water, which died out with my great great great grandpa. So! Anyway, I'm next in line to rule but the people of this kingdom got something in their heads that they didn't need a king anymore. So they stormed the palace. The guard you saw, or heard... was killed getting me out of there. Everybody THOUGHT I died. Now I'm in hiding."

"But that guy knew you can move earth. So he knows you're the princess, right?" Mer asked.

"SHH! Ok. Some people aren't stupid. But they know there is nothing I can do, so they're not gonna do anything. Except be asses."

"Is there anybody ruling right now?" Mer asked as she looked up at the clear blue sky.

"Yep. They call themselves the Sons of Fire. There are three of them, Kasai Tuli, Kasai Fuoco, and Kasai Fuego. Fuego is the one in charge, really. He was the one who led the initial storm." Kerii said bitterly.

"Hmm... they sound familiar. You said they've been in power for ten years?"

"Yes."

"I think I know one of them." Mer said and twirled around on her butt so she could jump down and stand on the bridge. Kerii followed.

"They don't like me. They know I'm alive." Kerii said.

"Have they tried to kill you before?" Mer asked, her gaze growing suspicious.

"Yeah? How did you know?"

Mer cocked her head to the side to look around Kerii to see two burly men in all red suits catch sight of the two girls and start running towards them.

"That's how."

"WE GOTTA RUN!" Kerii yelled and suddenly a bridge width wall of rock sprang up from the ground right in front of the bridge. People screamed as Mer and Kerii started running.

Mer looked back to see the wall smash to smithereens by a sudden ball of fire. Mer screamed.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THEY HAD THE FIRE FRUIT!?"

"THEY DON'T! THEY HAVE WRIST THINGS THAT SHOOT FIRE FROM THIS PACK ON THEIR BACK OR IN THEIR BELTS!" Kerii shouted back at her.

"WE CAN'T OUTRUN THEM!" Mer yelled and spotted an empty boat hitched at the wall a block over. "QUICK! THAT GONDOLA!"

Mer lifted herself and Kerii up into the air and over to the boat where Kerii instantly froze with fright and Mer untied the boat and shoved off from the wall.

"Is there a motor?" Mer asked as Kerii found herself and said, "No!"

Mer growled then said, "No problem!"

The men were about to jump and attack the boat when Mer, using her powers, blew the boat forward through the water at a fast speed, leaving the two men in red far behind in the waves.

Mer steered quite nicely, finding that using her powers she could sense her way around the other boats.

"LOOKOUT!" Kerii screamed as two motorized one-person bike looking things came at them from different directions. Both held men in red.

"Crap!" Mer said and then yelled at Kerii, "Blast up some earth to blow them out of the water! Do you get what I'm saying?"

Kerii nodded, a gleam in her green eyes.

She stood up on the gondola as Mer steered in front, watching from over her shoulder.

The two men were flanking in and suddenly two cylindrical shaped juts of earth came up from below the water and pounded the two right into the air, falling back down into the water.

"HA HA!" Mer laughed as she steered the gondola towards the waterfront.

T-I-C-K-E-T-T-O-R-I-D-E

Mer steered the gondola, which was painted bright red, up to the ocean and into it, steering around looking for something.

"What are you doing?" Kerri asked, a little annoyed.

"Going to the Going Merry." Mer said, standing with her right foot up on the edge of the boat, her hand on the tall twisting thing sticking up from the bow. "Hah! Found her!" Mer said, turning to Kerii and grinning.

The gondola slid up against the Going Merry and Mer and Kerii were lifted up to the deck, where Nami was reading the paper, sipping on some lemonade.

"Oh, Mer, there you are. Who's this?" Nami asked, looking up from her paper.

"A GIRL!" Sanji squealed as he was beside Nami at the table with the big umbrella over it, sharpening his knives. They all clattered to the deck.

"Does he always do that?" Kerii muttered in Mer's ear.

Mer sighed a, "Yes."

"Who is this LOVELY lady you brought with you, Mer?" Sanji asked, whipping over and kissing Kerii's hand. His eye a heart.

"This is Mei Kerii. I helped her escape the men who work for the Kasai Brothers." Mer explained.

"A fugitive?" Sanji asked.

"Hey, where's Luffy?"

"I left him at a restaurant."

"Weren't you suppose to be watching him?" Nami chastised.

"Oh please, he's not Zoro! He'll find his way back." Mer said forcefully.

"You're part of their crew?" Kerii asked Mer.

"Would you like to be a part of this crew, Kerii-chan?" Sanji asked, getting down onto one knee, still holding Kerii's hand.

"Uh, no... thank you. I'm a princess." Kerii said.

"A PRINCESS! I'm at your service, my name is Mr. Prince!" Sanji said suavely.

"Mr. Prince?" Kerii asked.

"I'm Nami!" Nami said brightly, walking over.

"Where are the rest of them?" Mer asked, looking around, listening around, for Zoro, Usopp, or Chopper.

"Out in the city." Nami said, rolling her eyes.

"Usopp... is checking out the art shops... Zoro is... lost, no dur... and Luffy is... still in the restaurant." Mer said with difficulty, trying to sift through the thousands of thoughts going on on the island.

"The mind reading thing, right?" Kerii asked, looking at Mer with narrow eyes.

"Yep!" Mer said brightly, smiling broadly.

"You know that's kinda creepy?"

Mer rolled her eyes.

"It's true!" Kerii said loudly.

"It is true, Princess!" Sanji said, heart-eyed.

"Can you make us lunch, Mr. Prince?" Chopper asked, sneering at the Mr. Prince part.

"I'M TALKING TO THE PRINCESS!" Sanji barked. "Would you like to be _my _Princess?" he said, shifting his eyebrow quickly, smiling suavely at her.

"What?"

"Marry me!"

Nami and Mer exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

"What is so funny?" Kerii asked, accusatively, her hands on her hips as Sanji was on one knee before her.

"N-nothing!" Nami said, wiping a tear from her cheek.

Mer slowly stopped laughing, her eyes unfocused, blinking quickly.

"Mer? What is it?" Nami asked, placing her hand on Mer's shoulder.

"It's Luffy..." she said distantly, "... he... there are so many thoughts... he got... arrested?"

* * *

1-2-09

Almost put 08 up there. Sheesh.

SONGtIMe

Let It Be- The Beatles  
Hey Jude- The Beatles  
Ticket to Ride- The Beatles


	9. Fight Fire with a Straw Hat

Chapter Nine

In the restaurant Luffy was still at, he was ordering food like crazy!

"Ur, waior, or ood eze!" (Translation: You, waiter, more food please!)

"We're running out of food here!" the cook yelled over the bar.

"Sir, you're going to have to stop ordering." the waiter said and left quickly.

Luffy looked around at the full establishment.

"Hey! That looks good!" he said and stretched his arms out to grab the order the waiter was bringing out for the people at table one. Then table two. Then table fourteen. Then table six.

"HEY! HE'S STEALING OUR FOOD!" a woman cried, pointing at Luffy, who was busy shoving it all into his mouth.

"Call a red coat!" a man yelled.

"Yeah! He was stretching his arms too! STRETCHING HIS ARMS!?" the woman screamed in fright.

Suddenly everybody started screaming just now realizing Luffy could stretch his arms.

"DEVIL! DEVIL!" a woman shrieked.

"CALL THE RED COATS!"

The door bust open and two burly men walked in, both wearing red sports jackets.

They didn't say anything, but both grabbed one of Luffy's arms and dragged him out. Luffy was still eating.

H-E-L-P

"Luffy got himself arrested!" Nami shouted in disbelief.

"Yep. Pretty sure for two things, Stealing Goods and/or Services and Use of Illegal Substances. The first one meant that he stole the food from the people sitting around him, the second for using the Devil Fruit." Mer said, getting all that information from the red coats that took Luffy off the restaurant's premises.

"Where did the marines take him?" Chopper asked.

"It wasn't the marines. There are none of them here. It was the red coats. They took Luffy." Kerii said darkly, her face set in stone.

"What's a matter, Princess-chan?" Sanji asked, at her side immediately.

"She doesn't like the Red Coats." Mer said and told Sanji, Nami, and Chopper the story Kerii told Mer.

"That's awful!" Nami said as Mer finished.

"Princess-chan! I'm so sorry for you!" Sanji said, tear in his eye.

"I wish there was a way I could stop them. I know they're not just here to rule the city. They're here for bigger reasons. I just wish I knew what?" Kerii said, sitting down on the stairs, her chin resting on her fist as she thought.

Mer smiled and closed her eyes as she sat on a barrel.

Nami grinned too, "What are you hearing, Mer?"

"They all live in the palace, having rebuilt the part they destroyed trying to kill Kerii. Fuego is clearly in charge over his brothers, Tuli and Fuoco. They both have the same ideas on ruling, wanting to rule together, peacefully, but Fuego is ruthless. There is a... some sort of plant... in the city... that Fuego wants. They're not thinking about it right now so I'm not sure what it is. They're too far away for me to go deeper... Crap." Mer said, opening her eyes.

"You said it was just as strong if they were next to you or five miles away?" Sanji asked.

"I don't know them. They're just outside a mile away from me. Or one of them is... so I can't get that much. It's faint and I can only hear what he's thinking right now. He's incognito at a café. It's Tuli. TULI!" she suddenly screamed, excited.

"Who's Tuli?" Nami asked.

"When I was with the Scientist, Kasai Tuli was friends with him! Tuli was really funny and we always played cards together! He let me win once. I know, cuz I could hear his thoughts. He was fun. He always talked about this girl he knew who I reminded him of. I think it was you, Kerii." Mer said, smiling at the memories.

"He knows me?" Kerii asked.

"WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO KNOW YOU, PRINCESS-CHAN!" Sanji cried happily.

"I wanna go see Tuli!" Mer declared suddenly.

"Watch it, Mer! Isn't he a ruthless ruler? Trying to kill Kerii?" Nami cautioned.

"I'll be fine! I can take care of myself, Nami!" Mer said, like a little kid trying to convince their mother they could go across the street by themselves.

"I'll go with you, Mer!" Sanji said.

"Thank you, Mr. Prince." Mer said, glancing at Kerii.

"I'll stay here, thank you very much!" Kerii snapped, sitting down promptly on the stairs to even further her declaration of staying on the ship.

"Fine," Mer shrugged. "Let's go! I wanna see Tuli again!" Mer sing-songed happily as she and Sanji, or as Kerii knew him only as, Mr. Prince, walked off the ship.

C-O-M-E-T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R

Mer and Sanji walked into the quiet café on the north end of the city to see only one person there. He was dressed in all blues and greens and was sipping his coffee silently, reading the newspaper. The newspaper he was reading was a dull red.

"This place is all about red, eh?" Sanji muttered to Mer.

"Well," Mer started quietly, "The three leaders' ancestor ate the Mera Mera no Mi, so they all can control fire."

"You got that from Princess-Chan, didn't you." Sanji said, smiling.

"Of course!" Mer said, looking forward at the man she knew to be Tuli.

"May I help you?" the man coming out from the kitchen asked the two.

"Black tea." Sanji said, sitting down at the table closest to Tuli's.

"A lemonade with a sugar cane stick and mint leaves!" Mer said, sitting down, too.

"Odd order. I'll go see if we have some of that." the man said, humoring Mer, thinking that she was crazy.

"That is an odd order, if you don't mind me saying, miss." Tuli said, turning his paper down and looking at Mer. Tuli wasn't unattractive, he did have pretty orange/red hair and sea green eyes. He had a charming smile and a fresh shaved face and his hair was falling over his forehead gradually from the widow's peak at the top of his forehead.

"I've liked it my whole life. I haven't hand one in a while, though." Mer replied.

Tuli gave Mer a stare as he thought.

"Do you know any card games, miss?" he asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Oh yes! My favourite one is Spit!" Mer said, smiling. Acting as if she had never met the man before.

Tuli smiled broadly, "Esme!" he said, laughing. He and Mer got up and Tuli gave her a great bone crushing hug. It took a lot for Sanji to stay sitting, as if he were fighting some invisible force. But Mer hugged back.

"Tuli!"

"Not in here! In here I'm Mr. Markz. But it's good to see you again, Esme! Look how much you've grown!" he said, standing back to see her, like an uncle who's been gone for a few years.

"I'm seventeen now!" Mer said, smiling.

"It's been too long!"

"And I'm going by Mer now."

"Mer? Hmm... That might slip my mind now and again, Es- er- Mer."

Mer smiled as they sat down.

The owner brought up Sanji's black tea and a plain lemonade for Mer.

"Sorry, miss, but we didn't have any sugar cane or mint leaves."

"Quite alright!"

The owner went back to the kitchen.

"So who's this young man? Your boyfriend?" Tuli said slyly, nudging Mer's shoulder with his elbow.

"We've been dating for several-"

"_NO_ he is not my boyfriend!" Mer snapped, cutting Sanji off.

"But Mer-chan!" Sanji whined.

"He's just a shipmate." Mer explained.

"You're on a ship?" Tuli asked.

"A Pirate Ship, if you don't mind," Mer said swiftly, shoving off the subject, sipping her lemonade. "Our captain just got arrested, too, by your redcoats." Mer said.

Tuli sighed, "That Fuego. He's so ruthless. I hate those redcoats, too, you know, Esme."

"Mer, and I have to ask you something... what is it that Fuego has in plan for the city?"

D-O-Y-O-U-W-A-N-T-T-O-K-N-O-W-A-S-E-C-R-E-T

"Hmm." Luffy said to himself as he was being dragged down a long bright corridor filled with paintings of the same man in red just in different poses and looks. The windows were letting the sunlight in and every same interval was a chandelier. Luffy looked to his left to see a door blocked by planks of wood.

Luffy was thrown swiftly into a room with a light red carpet that was very soft.

"Why did you throw this criminal in here?" a man asked.

One of the red coats replied, "He has used an illegal substance, sire."

"Oh. Excelent." the first man said, "Leave!"

The red coats bowed out and the door shut with a small boom. Luffy straightened himself out and stood up and looked around.

"Whoa!" he said, his hand rubbing the top of his head where his hat was sitting.

"What kind of Devil Fruit is it?" the man asked and Luffy turned to him. He was a tall man with square shoulders and wearing a long red trench coat. Beneath he had on a lighter red shirt with dark red pants and red shoes. His hair was black. His eyes were too.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked, staring at the man.

"I am Fuego. Now answer me! What kind of Fruit is it?"

"Gomu Gomu no Mi." Luffy said, continuing to look around at the large room dominated by portraits of Fuego in different poses.

"Ahh! I see! Would you care to join me in something I'm doing soon. I could very much use your help." Fuego asked as he sat back down on his thrown.

Luffy thought about it.

"Sure! What is it?"

G-E-T-B-A-C-K

"He calls it Painting the Town Red." Tuli finished.

"He's going to use the Veuns Fire Trap plant to eternally burn everybody who doesn't agree with his complete and uter rule!"

"What a jerk." Sanji said, disgusted.

"He's using his redcoats to gather up all the people and if they don't all agree to his total totalitarian lead then he will stick those who don't agree into the plant, if he can ever find it." Tuli said, shaking his head.

"Where is Fuoco?" Mer asked Tuli.

"I don't know?" Tuli said, exasperated and desperate, "He disappeared a few days ago and I know it was Fuego's doing! But I can't find him anywhere! The redcoats don't listen to me anymore, they only take order from Fuego and the only reason I'm here in hiding is so he doesn't find me and do away with me like he did our poor brother."

"I've gotta tell Kerii!" Mer hissed.

"You know the little Princess?" Tuli asked.

"How do you know Princess-Chan?" Sanji growled, leaning in menacingly, glaring hard.

"She's my niece."

"Holy crap!" Mer exclaimed loudly.

"She's your niece? How!?" Sanji demanded.

"Her mother, Faia, was our sister. Fuego murdered her and her husband viciously at the storm of the palace those many years ago. I've never forgiven him for that."

"Why didn't you kill Kerii?" Mer asked.

"She was taken by a guard away from the palace and we didn't get to her. I managed to convince my brother to not kill her."

"He didn't want her in the way of his plan." Mer finished for Tuli.

"Yes. But he plans on killing her as an example."

"I MUST PROTECT PRINCESS-CHAN!" Sanji yelled after that.

"She's at the ship, she'll be fine as soon as stupid Zoro gets there. God, what is taking him so long...? Oh... he's lost again." Mer growled at the end, sifting through thoughts like they were sand finding Zoro's tiny sand grain thoughts far away on the other side of the city. Lost.

"What a moron." Sanji hissed.

"At least he did better than Luffy! He didn't get himself arrested!" Mer snapped.

"Shall we go find him?" Tuli suggested.

"Nah. He'll find his way back, the idiot," Mer said and got up, "But you can come with us to the ship."

"Do you think I should?" Tuli asked, sitting still as he watched Sanji get up alongside Mer.

"Yes. You know the most, you can come help. Plus you've got the fire power." Mer said and Tuli looked at his hands as if they were sharp knives.

"I'll go with you." he said finally.

H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S-I-S-A-W-A-R-M-G-U-N

Nami and Chopper were the only ones on deck when Mer and Sanji returned with Tuli.

"What happened?" Mer yelled as they neared.

"Redcoats kept passing by so Kerii is down in our room." Nami called back to Mer as she, Tuli, and Sanji walked up on deck.

"They're planning something horrible!" Sanji yelled to Nami, beside her in an instant.

"What?" Nami asked and Sanji and Tuli explained what Fuego had planned.

"How do we stop him?" Nami declared.

"I'm thinking!" Mer shouted, her hands covering her ears, her eyes shut.

"Why are your hands over your ears?" Nami asked and Mer's eyes shot open to glare.

"Well," she started shortly, "When I place my hands over my ears it blocks out all thoughts so I can only hear mine."

"Can't you just, you know, shut it off?" Sanji asked.

"Technically what I do is I, like, put it on low volume. I can still hear it, I just choose to ignor it. This way I hear nothing. Even if I am paying attention, I can't hear a single thought but my own. Now SHH! I need to think of a plan!"

"We can help think of a plan, you know!" Nami said brashly.

"Fine. What do you have in mind?" Mer said, slowly putting her hands at her sides and watching Nami like a hawk with her powder blue eyes.

"Well... I don't know."

"Exactly." Mer snapped and placed her hands back over her ears and closed her eyes to think again.

"Mer?" Sanji asked. "Do you know where Usopp and Zoro are?"

One hand went down.

"Mer?"

"Usopp's coming up to the ship, Zoro's on Bya Street."

"Bya Street East?" Tuli asked suddenly, jumping up.

Mer was silent, "Yes." she said finally.

"Oh thank God." Tuli said, holding his heart.

"Why?" Sanji asked.

"Bya Street West is where every brothel in the city is. Nowhere else."

Sanji was suddenly halfway across the deck frozen in a running stance.

"What the hell? MER!?" he yelled and Mer smirked, eyes still closed.

"You're not going to Brothel Town, Sanji." she said in a pleasant voice, clearly mocking him as he was frozen in his running stance. Nami laughed.

"What's going on?" Kerii asked, coming out from the girls' room.

"Princess-Chan! There you are!" Sanji cried happily, managing to turn his head to face her with the heart eye.

"Mr. Prince... how? Oh. Mer."

"SHHHHUSH!" she screamed.

"She's thinking of a plan." Nami explained, rolling her eyes.

"Ok! We kill Fuego!" Mer said brightly, taking her hands off her ears.

"That's it? We just off him?" Kerii yelled, annoyed.

"Yeah, pretty much." Mer said like it was simple.

"We can't possibly kill him!" Kerii yelled, still very annoyed.

"Why?" Mer asked, they were now in a debate.

"Because he is too powerful to be killed. He has too many guards and can shoot fire at us, Mer!" Kerii yelled.

"You are forgetting that we have an insider, I have my mind powers, and when Luffy finds out really what's happening, he'll kick Fuego's ass!" Mer threw back.

"Can you really put your faith in a man who got himself arrested for eating too much food?" Kerii dead panned, hand on hip.

"We all have to, and we all do. He's our captain," Mer said sternly, quieter, "And no matter what we support him all the way."

Nami, Sanji, and Chopper smiled as Kerii sighed.

"Fine. But the plan you explained starts soon. And how do we know where he's going to start anyway?" Kerii asked.

Mer smirked, "Let me think!"

A-L-L-I-V-E-G-O-T-T-O-D-O

Fuego, followed by about 100 redcoats, and Luffy, walked into the city's main square. The largest place in the city that's all land.

The many many many people there turned to look at their leader, silent.

"Hello, my people!" Fuego said happily, extending his arms as if to hug the crowd.

"Today, I will ask you something. Will you all accept me as your total ruler?"

The people were shocked. A din started up in the crowed as the people conversed about the sudden question.

Fuego wasn't pleased.

"PEOPLE!" he boomed suddenly, and just as suddenly, it was silent. "GIVE ME YOUR ANSWER!"

"No." a voice rang out.

Fuego turned as the crowed parted to see a girl in green walking towards him. She looked angry.

"You don't count. You are a nobody who should be dead." Fuego said, clearly unhappy about the whole ordeal going down.

"I am still a part of this city. And I say no." Kerii said, her voice low and murderous.

"Who's she?" Luffy leaned over to ask one of the redcoats.

"The Former Princess." the redcoat said.

"HIII PRINCESS!" Luffy shouted merrily.

"YOU KNOW THE PRINCESS!?" Fuego shouted, a vein pulsing in his neck and forehead as he screamed at Luffy.

"No?"

"Give it up, Fuego." Kerii hissed, warningly.

Fuego turned to her and suddenly grabbed her lower arm and bent it back behind her back, grabbing her black hair in his other hand, all in one swift motion. He held her up above the ground and yelled, "SAY YES AND SHE GOES FREE! SAY NO AND SHE'LL BE MY EXAMPLE TO WHAT YOUR PUNISHMENT SHALL BE TILL YOU ALL SAY YES!"

Luffy then saw what Fuego really was.

Waiting for that signal, Mer, Sanji, and Chopper in big form jumped out of the crowd.

Sanji came down on Fuego with a very powerful down kick. Chopper caught Kerii, who flew out of Fuego's hands as Sanji came down onto him. Mer pushed back all the guards so they were shoved into the deep street river.

The public were shocked still.

Fuego stood up slowly and looked at the motley crew standing before him.

"So this is here to protect the people? HAH! You don't frighten me!"

"We're not suppose to, idiot." Mer said shortly, loudly, and bluntly, smirking as she did so.

"What are you suppose to do? Make me surrender? _Never!_" Fuego spat.

"Then we'll just defeat you." Sanji said simply, lighting a cigarette.

"I'm more powerful than you all combined!"

"Can we just start fighting already? I'm bored!" Mer whined. Luffy grinned and he and Mer started advancing.

Fuego whipped off his leather glove and held his hand out and suddenly a ring of thick fire was around them, and growing closer.

Luffy and Mer started screaming, backing up against each other, trying to stay away from the flames.

Sanji took this time to take action, leaping over the fire and roundhouse kicking Fuego in the face. The flames died down a bit, enough for Mer and Luffy to make it out of there, where Mer was frozen with fear.

"Mer? You ok?" Luffy asked.

Mer couldn't even speak.

"Mer?"

"STRAW HAT!"

Luffy ducked, grabbing Mer and bringing her down to the ground with him as Fuego shot a long snake of fire at him, hitting the building.

"COME AND FIGHT ME!"

Luffy ran up and wrapped his arm around Fuego's arm and started twirling around. His long arm catching up so soon Fuego was swinging madly around the square, everybody watching.

Then Luffy let go, throwing Fuego into the river, where everybody found out that with the Fire Fire Fruit, he will sizzle and drown and die.

They couldn't even hear themselves think the square was so loud with cheers and people screaming and laughing, finally out of the tyranny.

G-L-A-D-A-L-L-O-V-E-R

Back at the Going Merry that night, Tuli, Kerii, and the rest of the crew were sitting in the kitchen, celebrating. Everyone but Mer.

Mer was sitting on the stairs, staring out at the ocean. She was sitting with her knees up at her chin and her arms wrapped around them tightly. Her chopped black hair blowing in the slight ocean breeze of the night as the moon rose slowly over the waves.

"Hello, Mer." a deep voice said, sitting down beside her in the semi-dark.

"Hello, Sanji." Mer replied, lifting her head just enough so he could hear.

"What's the matter?" he asked her quietly.

"Nothing." she whispered.

Sanji stayed quiet and watched the stars come out one by one with Mer, till she said, "They're just great big balls of fire, aren't they?"

Sanji looked down at her as he sat there beside her.

"I guess," he replied, "Why?"

"I don't like fire." Mer said quietly.

"So you don't like the stars?" Sanji said, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Mmm." Mer shrugged.

"Come on, let's eat!"

G-O-O-D-M-O-R-N-I-N-G-G-O-O-D-M-O-R-N-I-N-G

"I'll miss you all! Thank you, again!" Kerii said, hugging Mer for the last time as she and Tuli were about to leave the ship so the Straw Hats could leave.

"Yes! Thank you!"

"I'LL MISS YOU, PRINCESS-CHAN!" Sanji cried.

"I'll miss you too, Mr. Prince!" Kerii laughed.

"You seem very broken hearted, Sanji." Usopp said.

"Sanji?" Kerii asked, looking at Sanji.

"Yes. That is my name, Princess-Chan."

Kerii looked scared, but turned to look down the dock.

The rest of the crew looked, too.

"Hey. We're leaving already?" Zoro asked, walking up the dock.

* * *

1-25-09

Mmm... It's ok, Kelly, I'll bring you back.

SONGtime

Help- The Beatles  
Come Together- The Beatles  
Get Back- The Beatles  
Happiness Is a Warm Gun- The Beatles  
All I've Got To Do- The Beatles  
Glad All Over- The Beatles  
Good Morning Good Morning- The Beatles


	10. Dodging A Bullet

This will NOT EVER get written!

Chapter Ten

Mer glared harshly at him.

Though he couldn't tell, really, it was so dark.

"Nice going, you jerk!" Mer snapped suddenly after hours of silence.

"How is this my fault?" he asked exasperately, sitting on a crate with his elbows on his knees. His sandy blond hair falling into his dark blue eyes.

"Well it's _clearly _not mine!" Mer said swiftly.

Mer and this boy were sitting on opposite ends of the small rectangular room with the low vaulted ceiling. There were a bunch of crates in there that Mer and the boy were sitting on. Mer was sitting against the wall on a crate with her feet up on another crate. The boy was sitting hunched over with his elbows on his knees. He never looked at Mer, or that Mer knew of. She was glaring at him the whole time. And it had been hours.

"Why do you say it's mine? What did I do?" the boy asked her, looking up at her with his piercing dark blue eyes.

"If you hadn't of gotten in my way, than we wouldn't be in this stupid room with a locked door."

"If you're so powerful, why are we still in here?" He asked her, sitting up.

Mer sighed, "I hit my head when they threw us in here so I can't do anything." she said, looking away for the first time.

There was only one gas lamp, the flame low, over their heads in the middle of the room across from the door.

"Are you ok?" he asked, genuinely concerned, which Mer found odd.

"Yes! I'm fine!" she snapped, turning back to him.

He didn't flinch, or take any offense to the snap. Which Mer found even more odd. She didn't like him. You could go as far as to say she hated him. Which she did.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

He let out a long breath and said, "So... what's your power?"

There was a long bit of silence.

"Telepathic Telekinesis." she let out finally.

"Really? I can run fast!"

"That's... wonderful." Mer said, looking at the wall to her right. The wall the door was on.

He smiled, which irritated Mer. He had a nice smile. He had little dimples and his chin was scratchy. His long sandy blond hair fell into his eyes in razors. His eyes were looking at her as he smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Mer inquired loudly.

His smile broadened. "No reason!" he said.

Mer snarled.

"I'm just remembering how I met you."

FLASH_BACK_

_The boy was walking down the stairs and into the kitchen of his family's restaurant. He stretched while walking through the door, grabbing his blue apron as he did so._

"_Sleep in _again._" his sister said, her back turned towards him as she was cooking something._

"_Shut up! I'm not that late! The place doesn't even open for another hour!" he said loudly back to her as he started getting the chopsticks out to put on the six tables they had in the small restaurant. _

"_Still." she said and he sighed loudly and walked out into the room that you could see from the kitchen over a counter with a row of shelves above it._

_He started placing the chopsticks into a cup at the end of the table against the wall in handfuls when he heard the bell above the door chime, signaling the entrance of a customer._

_He didn't look up when he said loudly, angrily, "We're closed, come back in an hour!" _

_He looked up and saw, standing there, a tall gangly boy about his age with an attractive girl beside him, around the same age. They were looking at him like he was crazy. Well, the boy was. The girl was looking rather bored._

"_I TOLD you, Luffy! It said CLOSED! Plus you just had breakfast!"_

"_I did?" Luffy asked, turning to the girl._

"_Yeah. What was that thing that Sanji gave you ten minutes ago?"_

"_Well I'm still hungry." he declared and the girl sighed and rolled her eyes. _

"_I don't care if you're hungry for another hour. Come back then." _

"_Why not just feed us now? You're food's all prepared and in an hour it might not be as good."_

"_How did you know our food is prepared already?" his sister called from the kitchen, looking at the girl as she rested her head in her arms on the counter. Her red hair pulled back in a tight ponytail._

_The girl shrugged, "Lucky guess." she said swiftly._

"_Why not?" the boy's sister said, looking at him._

"_Fine, fine, fine." he said, very very annoyed. He was never good in the morning._

"_Calm down, Caleb, and just serve them." his sister said as she threw a dish towel at him._

_He growled and turned to Luffy and the girl, who were already situated at the table, looking up at him with small smiles on their faces. _

"_What would you like today." Caleb said in a robotic voice, looking up at the ceiling, angered._

"_Uhhh... Everything!" Luffy said brightly._

"_I'll have just some tea, thanks." the girl said._

_As Caleb turned around to go back to the kitchen where he knew his sister already heard the order, he heard Luffy say, "Why didn't you order anything, Mer?"_

"_Cuz, Luffy, I already ate breakfast and I don't expand like you do."_

_H-U-M-A-N-S-A-R-E-P-R-E-D-A-T-O-R-S-T-O-O_

_Caleb came back out fifteen minutes later with everything on the menu and a cup of tea._

"_Here you go." he said, calmer than he was earlier, setting down all the food. Twenty different items sitting there steaming or cooling or chilling._

"_Aks!" Luffy said, already having a mouthful of food._

_Mer nodded at him._

_Emma watched Caleb walk back into the kitchen, his shoulders slumped._

"_What's wrong?" she asked him as she leaned on her arm that was holding her up via the counter. Her right hand on her hip as she examined her twin's outer appearance._

"_Nothing's wrong!"_

"_Something's wrong." Emma said clearly._

_Caleb looked up at her with annoyance in his eyes. _

_Emma just smiled, it small and over her teeth. Her matching blue eyes closed._

"_I'm tired and I hate working here. I'd rather be ANYWHERE else!" he said, leaning up against the door frame, catching a part of Mer and Luffy's conversation._

"_-don't see why you had to." Mer was saying._

"_They were being jerks!"_

"_You could have just, you know, kicked them away from her! You didn't have to continuously beat them up! I don't think they deserved that, even if they were being slimy jerks."_

"_Since when are you so nice?" Luffy asked, laughing._

"_I am not!" Mer said, falsely appalled, which made Luffy laugh more. "I'm just saying you don't have to show off. I don't."_

"_I like to!" Luffy said proudly._

_Mer sighed, "I know."_

_Caleb wondered what they were talking about when he heard the bell ring again._

_He and Emma bent over to see over the counter the three large men who walked in. The twins glanced at each other and Caleb swung himself nimbly over the counter and into the dining room._

"_We're closed." he said loudly, forcefully, his arms crossed over his chest._

"_I don't care!" the one in front yelled then turned to Luffy, who had his back to him. Mer was staring at him over Luffy's bent down head, her eyes wide. She was leaning back in her seat, but she looked more disgusted than scared._

"_Straw Hat!" the man yelled angrily and pounded his hand down onto Luffy's head, smashing his face into the food and to the hard wood table. Food splattered everywhere, but not hitting Mer._

_The man stood up straight, chuckling in his very deep voice as Caleb looked over at Luffy, who was picking his head up from the table. Food was smeared all over his face, but he licked it all clean off and grinned at Mer, who was giggling silently in response. _

_Luffy stood up and faced the men._

"_You want more?" he said, holding his fist up, grinning._

_Caleb was frozen. His eyes managed to look over at Mer, who was leaning up against the wall, her feet up on the bench she was sitting on, sipping tea and eating the sushi, that didn't get smashed or eaten, lazily, as if this were all a show she had watched already. She knew what was going to happen._

"_AHHHHHHH!" the man started yelling, swinging his arm up to pound Luffy again, but Luffy already took the chance and yelled, "GOMU GOMU NO," swinging his back, "PISTOL!" and punching the man so he went flying out of the restaurant through the door, taking most of the door frame with him, across the road and stopping when he hit the side of the building across the road._

_Emma screamed._

_Mer chuckled softly and said, "Would you like any help, Luffy?"_

"_Oh no. I've got it, Mer." Luffy said simply, turning to Mer, who said, "Alright."_

_The man on the right ran back to help the leader while the man on the left took out a knife, which was swftly kicked out of his hand by Luffy's stretched out leg. The stretching of his leg caused Emma to scream again. Caleb just watched in horror... and in awe._

"_The hell, Rubber-Man!" he yelled and sprang across the table and was about to tackle Mer when he seemed to hit something as solid as a brick wall._

"_WHAT THE HELL!?" Caleb and Emma screamed when the man fell to the table and all Mer said was, "Come on! I was gonna finish that sushi!"_

_Luffy grabbed the man by the back of the shirt and spun around a few times quickly and, using that speed, threw the man across the road, smashing into the other man so they were all a heap of unconscious men._

"_Thanks, Luffy. You threw most of the eatable food out with him!" Mer complained, standing up. Not a bit of food on her._

"_We'll go ask Sanji for more, than." he said and turned to go with Mer when Emma yelled from behind Caleb, "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?"_

_She was standing next to Caleb now and Luffy and Mer, who were walking towards the open door, turned towards them and stopped._

"_What did you do? You just destroyed my restaurant!" Emma shouted._

_Luffy and Mer looked at each other and Luffy turned back to Emma, saying, "I had to fight them!"_

_Emma's glare hardened and the next thing Luffy and Mer knew, they were doing menial tasks around the restaurant._

"_We should go get Usopp. He could fix this." Luffy said as his job was to fix the doorway._

_Mer was in the kitchen, cleaning the floor on her hands and knees._

"_Nice, Emma. How did you get them to do that again?"_

"_I don't really know!" Emma said, smiling blissfully as if she were drunk, but she wasn't._

_D-E-V-I-L-S-D-A-N-C-E-F-L-O-O-R_

_Hours later, Mer was laying on a middle table as Luffy finished up with the door._

"_DONE!" he yelled joyfully as it slammed open and standing there were the rest of the Straw Hat Crew._

"_Hey, guys." Mer said sleepily from her table._

"_Mer-chan! Where have you been all this time! I was becoming worried!" the blond cried, appearing next to Mer, and holding her hand as if she were dying._

"_I'm fine. I've been here cuz Luffy destroyed the door fighting and because of that the psycho owners made us work here to pay it off."_

_Sanji glared up at Caleb and Emma standing there but was beside Emma in an instant when he realized one of the psycho owners was a girl._

"_I forgive you for making Luffy do all that menial work!" he said, kissing her hand, "But I'm afraid I can not forgive you for making my Mer-chan work!" he said getting all choked up because he could not forgive a woman._

_Emma giggled. "It's alright!" she said and the blond's eye was a heart._

"_Who'd you get into a fight with?" green haired dude asked Luffy as Luffy was taking Mer's idea and lying on a table._

"_These three giant fat guys who were messing with this girl. I beat them up then and they came back."_

"_Hey! We are not giant fat guys!" some booming deep voice sounded behimd them._

_The crew parted to revel the three giant fat guys with a lot of bandages on them with a bunch of other fat men behind them, all looking menacing._

"_Ah frick." Mer shouted, sitting up at the table._

"_Hello, girly! I remember you!" the fat man with a bandage over his nose said, stroking under Mer's chin. She jerked her head away but he suddenly, with his huge sausagy hand, grabbed the back of Mer's head with her short choppy hair and held her up so her feet were dangling off the floor._

_The leader of the fat men called out, "Take the other three. Get rid of these others and let's get back to the ship."_

_The fat men took out weapons as did the crew and was about to fight them when they heard a clatter and looked at the middle of the room on the floor where a small black cannon ball was bouncing when suddenly it exploded._

_T-H-E-O-T-H-E-R-W-H-I-T-E-M-E-A-T_

_BACK_FLASH

Mer and Caleb had woken up in the little room. Not knowing how long it had been since they were in the restaurant. If the ship is out to sea. Where anybody was?

It was scary, but neither let the other know that they were scared.

"That was stupid. Your sister's insane!"

"I wonder where she is." Caleb said quietly, sadly.

Mer, seeing the small amount of hurt Caleb let show on his face, felt like being a nice person for once and closed her eyes and explored the ship. She heard dozens of thoughts, none sounding like a girl's... for a while.

"She's... up near the deck." Mer said, straining to hear. It was hard. She was at the bottom of a very large ship (belonging to the Fat Men Pirate Crew, ironically) so she was deep under the surface of the water and the fact that she hit her head didn't help in the matter.

"She's alive?" Caleb asked, a shred of hope in his voice.

"Yes." Mer said after a moment.

Caleb let out a sigh.

Mer looked at him out of the corner of her right eye, "I got the impression that you didn't like your sister?"

Caleb looked up at her and said, "She's still my sister. We're all each other has."

"You remind me of my brother." Mer said simply, still hating Caleb's guts.

Caleb grimaced_._

Mer smirked.

"What's your captain like?" Caleb asked suddenly, turning to Mer as he sat hunched over again.

Mer closed her eyes and smiled.

"He's goofy and silly and immature most of the time but the other times he's caring and he takes charge and is all about the crew. We're loyal to him because he a good leader and has saved us countless times and had done so much to make us happy that we couldn't not join the crew. He was there for all of us. Even when he found out I was part of this evil group bent to kill people. He still stuck by me!"

Caleb looked away. This was his way out!

Mer closed her eyes and said, "Wake me if people are near, kay?" she said swiftly and drifted off.

If it were any other situation, Mer would be the one who was listening at the keyhole, but being semi-powerless made her wary and the only way to get her powers working again was to sleep. So she did. She did anything that made her more powerful, especially when there were enemies near.

D-R-I-F-T-O-F-F-T-O-D-R-E-A-M

Mer awoke to Caleb shaking her foot.

"Mer!" he hissed as she opened her eyes and heard the walking outside the walls.

She froze as Caleb looked under the door through the crack between the door and the floor and remained still.

Suddenly, he flung himself away from the door silently as it opened quickly, banging off the wall and standing there were the three fat men.

"Come, skinny people!" he called in his booming deep voice and Mer and Caleb stood up and walked out with him, not wanting to get hurt any more.

They led them up to the deck (the fat men were panting by the time they made it there there were so many stairs to climb) where Luffy and Emma were already. They were being held by other fat men. Luffy was tied up at the ankles and around his torso and the sky was an inky black. It was about to rain, and rain hard.

"Come come! We haven't got all day! We would like to execute and dump your bodies before the rain comes!" the Fat Man Captain, the leader from before, said.

"Why didn't you do it earlier?" Mer asked angrily, not mad that they didn't execute her earlier, but mad that they were stupid. Stupid people annoyed her.

"Because your stupid ship was following us and it took us a while to shake it! That's why!" he snapped, grabbing her hair like the other man did earlier and dragging her over to the railing where Luffy and Emma were being put. Caleb was brought over last.

"First you, Straw Hat!" the captain said, pointing a pistol at Luffy's heart.

Something snapped in Caleb. He couldn't let Luffy die! Even if he didn't know Luffy very well and knew he was just a captain, he knew that he was a good person. And, though he could be Caleb's way out, he was also Mer and the rest of his crew's hope for getting out. Getting out and staying out. And he couldn't let Luffy be shot. Not now. Not ever.

The shot fired and Caleb ran towards Luffy, crying out when the bullet lodged into his arm. He fell to the deck.

"CALEB!" he heard Emma yell angrily.

"Holy crap!" he heard Luffy yell and he looked up at him, seeing Luffy's face with wide eyes and a mouth the shape of a large O.

"KILL THEM ALL!" he heard the captain shout and then a very loud explosion. Screaming. Lots of screaming. Bangs and bashes.

Then laughter.

Why laughter?

He looked up, his head searing with the pain from his arm, and saw the green haired dude cutting Luffy's bonds and joining the fight as more explosions were heard.

Emma was suddenly in his vision.

"Cale? Are you alright?" she asked over the comotion of the fight.

"Yeah! Yeah I'm fine, Em!" he said, trying to sit up when the biggest explosion was heard and the sound of a lot of wood splitting sounded.

"WHY ARE YOU SPLITTING THE SHIP, MER!?" green haired screamed over the commotion.

"SO IT'LL SINK, ZORO! COME ON! WE GOTTA GET BACK TO MERRY!" she screamed when she looked down and suddenly screamed even higher pitched, "THE MAGAZINE'S GONNA CATCH! JUMP!"

**BOOOMMM!!!**

Caleb hit water hard and was sinking fast and there was nothing he could do about it and he knew it. But he still wished that he could get out.

He watched the light above him go from orange to red and then to nothing as he watched the ship sink just fifty yards away from him.

Then he ran out of air...

Strong hands grabbed Mer's ankle and started pulling swiftly till Mer broke surface and took in a huge deep breath.

"Thanks! Zoro!" she said between breaths.

"Yeah yeah yeah." he said as he wrapped her arm behind his neck and held her up that way. They looked over and saw Sanji holding up Luffy. Sanji looked very angry that Zoro was holding Mer. And Emma was a few feet away holding up the unconscious form of Caleb. His sleeve of his shirt soaked in red blood.

"Bring him to the ship, our doctor can fix his arm." Zoro said as he started kicking towards his right, the side Mer was on, towards where he knew the ship to be. Sanji followed, offering to help Emma, who refused politely.

S-I-N-K-I-N-G

Caleb felt himself breathing. That was a good sign. He was laying down in some warm place. Too warm... to comfortable.

His eyes snapped open to find a blue nosed deer over his face.

"What the hell?"

"Oh good! You're awake!"

"You can talk? Since when do deer talk?"

"I'M A REINDEER!" he shouted in Caleb's face.

From behind Chopper, they heard laughter.

Caleb looked around the de- _rein_deer and saw Luffy standing there, leaning up agaisnt the wall next to the door.

"Luffy?" Caleb said, confused as to why Luffy was there.

"Chopper says your arm's fixed now. The bullet's out and the wound will heal nicely!"

Caleb's brow furrowed, "That's good, I guess. But why are you telling me this?"

Luffy walked over and said, looking down at him, "You know... bullet's don't hurt me!" with his smile.

"What?"

"Yep! I'm made of rubber!" he said, stretching out his cheek and then letting it snap back, "So bullet's just stretch me and then I shoot them right back!"

"Oh..." Caleb said, feeling like an idiot. He took a bullet for probably the one man on the entier planet that couldn't die from a shot from a gun. Wow. Was he a smart one. The only person he'd take a bullet for didn't need it.

"But you took that bullet for me anyway! So... I was thinking. I needed a way to thank you."

"Hows about 500,000 belli and we'll call it even." Caleb said with a smirk.

"Hah! No! I want you to join my crew!" Luffy said proudly.

Caleb straightened his head out and closed his eyes as he lay underneath the comfortable blanket.

"Let me sleep on it!" he said with a smile. Knowing his answer.

Somewhere above Luffy, Caleb and Chopper, Mer was throwing a silent fit.

* * *

4-7-09 12:00 AM

-smile erupts onto face-

OH MY FREAKIN GOD THIS CHAPTER IS ACTUALLY FINISHED! IT TOOK ME THREE MONTHS AND SO SO SO SO SO SO MANY TRIES BUT I FINALLY FREAKIN FINISHED THIS DAMN CHAPTER! AHHH! OH MY GOD!!!!

8D

Ok! Some things I should clear up. It took me forever to find Emma's name and I picked Emma because the character of Emma is bassed off of my friend Courtney and her favourite _Twilight_character is Emmett and when I googled the name it said it derived from the name Emma, so I chose that for you Courtney! You best like. The name Caleb? It just came to me and stuck so I was unable to change it. Sorry.

SONGTIME!!!

Humans Are Predators Too- Carter Burwell Twilight Score Soundtrack  
Devil's Dance Floor- Flogging Molly  
The Other White Meat- Jeff Dunham  
Drift Off To Dream- Travis Tritt  
Sinking- James Horner Titanic Soundtrack

PS: IT'S FINISHED!!!


	11. Sisters

Holy crap. I never thought I would see this chapter!

Chapter Eleven!!!

Luffy and Chopper walked into the kitchen where Nami, Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro were sitting.

"Where is Mer?" Chopper asked, hopping in because he was excited.

"She looked super mad and walked out a couple minutes ago."

"Oh. Well I wanted to let everybody know that I just asked Caleb to join the crew!"

There was a beat.

"Why?" Nami asked, looking confused like the rest of them.

"Because when we were on the ship and they were about to shoot me he took that bullet for me!"

They all had the same reaction, "Whoa!" is what they said.

"So I want him to join my crew as a thanks. I couldn't think of anything else. Though he did ask for 500,000 belli-"

SMASH!

"HE'S JOINING THE CREW!" Nami yelled after pummeling Luffy into the floor angrily.

"He hasn't given Luffy an answer yet. He said he'd sleep on it."

"REALLY!" a shrill voice sounded from the doorway as Mer was standing there all of a sudden.

"Mer-Chan! There you are!" Sanji cried joyfully. Zoro rolled his eyes.

"I was beginning to enjoy the silence and privacy." Zoro said.

"I told you I don't listen to your thoughts!" Mer sounded and then went to Chopper, "He hasn't answered yet!"

"No. Why are you so excited?" Chopper asked, moving around to hide behind Nami's legs. He peaked out from behind them like he did with a wall. Backwards.

"Oh, no reason!" she said smiling, shrugging as she walked out the door.

W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L

The next day dawned and Caleb woke with his arm feeling so much more better. He was in the infirmary and there was nobody around but he could hear the sea gulls cawing outside so they must still be at the island as the sunlight poured onto the tall bed he was on.

"Good morning!" an all too familiar voice said.

He turned to see Emma walking into the infirmary.

"Oh. Emma."

"So Luffy asked you to join his crew?" Emma asked, sitting on the end of the bed as Caleb looked at his arm.

"Yeah, he did."

There was silence then Emma whispered, "Are you?"

Caleb looked up at her. Emma knew of his wishes to leave. Caleb's been wishing to leave since they were seven.

"I think so." he said and Emma looked down, smiling.

"What? You're not sad?" he asked her and she looked up at him.

"Now I can hire someone who I actually like to work for me!"

Caleb picked up a roll of bandages and threw it at Emma's head. She laughed.

Chopper came running in.

"Your arm! Watch your arm!"

"But my arm feels fine! Look!" he said as Chopper climbed up the little step ladder and examined the wound.

He didn't look happy when he said, "Fine. You're all better now. You really must have wanted to get better."

"I did. Who doesn't?"

"Mer." Chopper said, stepping down and going to pick up the roll that Emma handed to him.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked the little Reindeer.

"Mer doesn't like Caleb. She was excited last night when she heard that you hadn't answered Luffy yet. I don't think she'll be to happy today," Chopper said, "I really don't want to be the one to tell her."

T-E-L-L-H-E-R-T-H-I-S

Mer's head snapped to the side as Luffy told her about their new crew memeber. Their Source of Income.

"He's our _Source of Income_?" Mer asked, looking highly disgusted as if he were to be a prostitute to get money.

"Yep!"

"What does that mean?"

"He's good at getting money! He's fast!"

"Fast... how?"

"Devil Fruit Fast!"

"Ohhhhhhhhh." Mer said and turned on her heal and walked back into her room.

Caleb and Emma were watching from the railing in front of the kitchen.

"Mer's insane."

"Yeah she is."

"Don't be mean to my Mer-Chan!" Sanji called from behind them, scaring the crap out of them both.

"S-Sanji! You scared me!" Emma said and Sanji instantly was cooing beside her, "I'm so sorry, Emma-san!"

Caleb rolled his eyes.

"But why is Mer mad about this?" Emma asked Sanji as Caleb turned back around to face the door. He knew why. It's because Mer hated him.

"I do not know, my Emma-san! I'm sorry!"

Caleb swung himself over the railing and landed right in front of the door, an inch away from the person coming out of it.

"God Almighty!" she screamed in surprise.

"Yes?" Caleb asked, pretending to flip up a collar on his shirt.

Mer glared hard.

"I take it you're upset about this whole thing."

"What thing?" she snapped.

"Me joining the crew, of course!"

Mer sighed angrily.

"I'll take that as a yes! Come on! There's gotta be something you like about me!" he called as he followed her up the stairs.

"Yes!" she cried suddenly, turning on the middle stair and looking down at him, "Your absence!"

She started walking again, leaving Caleb for a beat of frozen. He regained himself and kept going.

Mer was already in the kitchen and Caleb was about to go in when he was almost clotheslined by Sanji's arm.

"What?"

"Don't do it, Caleb. If you want to live to see the next island, you won't go into that kitchen just now."

L-O-V-E-D-O-N-E-S-A-N-D-L-E-A-V-I-N-G

Emma was standing on the dock as Caleb's things one by one literally disappeared from beside her as Caleb ran back and forth putting them on the ship. Sure, she was sad, and sure she was happy that her brother got what he wanted and that she got what she wanted (peace and quiet) but at such a cost for her. She loved her brother (she would never admit it to him) and would miss him.

Emma sighed as the last thing disappeared and Caleb was standing in front of her.

"Take good care of the restaurant, will ya?" he asked her, his hands in the pockets of his loose jeans. His black shoes were on and he had on a green tee. His sandy blond hair was hanging in his dark blue eyes that he shared with his sister. The only physical attribute that he shared with Emma.

"I will. Now I can get someone to help who will actually be happy to."

"Are you going to pay them?"

"Of course."

"Pff! I never got paid!"

"You were a co-owner." Emma said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest. She had on a pair of black pants, flip flops, and a stripped green and yellow shirt. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"Oh... right."

There was silence filled with stares from the rest of Caleb's crew members. The orange haired one was sitting on the railing looking down at them over her shoulder. The long nosed one was looking at them with his nose up. The green haired swordsman was leaning against nothing as Mer was on the other side of this nothing leaning against it with her hand as a support. She glared down at Caleb as Luffy, beside her, was smiling, waiting for them. The blond, Sanji, was waving to Emma in goodbye. And then Chopper was peaking out from behind the railing.

Emma smiled and turned to Caleb.

"What? Do you want a hug or something?" he asked her and Emma nodded, holding out her arms.

He sighed, but hugged her anyways.

The separated and Caleb walked up to the deck where Mer quickly lifted herself up to the crow's nest.

She moved the ship away from the docks and off they went. Into the world that Caleb had wanted to see since he could remember.

Emma watched with sad eyes then turned back into town to start making up HELP WANTED signs.

B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G-F-R-E-E

"So! What do we do out here at sea?" Caleb asked as the crew fell back into routine. The next island wasn't for a day or so and so the crew went about their business. Nami drew her maps, Sanji was in the kitchen, Zoro worked out, Luffy and Usopp were playing a game, Chopper was reading a book bigger than himself full of medical stuff, and Mer was nowhere to be found.

"Whatever. Wanna play cards with us?" Luffy asked, holding up a deck of cards with the Queen of Hearts on top.

"No thanks. Where did Mer go?"

"Dunno? Usually she's down here on deck sunbathing or something like that."

Caleb sighed and walked around, getting to know his new home.

Up in the crow's nest, Mer was stuffed down inside with her notebook and pen. The sun wasn't hitting her face and she liked that so she had snuck her notebook up here and was about to start dictating what happened the past couple of days. The new crewmember and what not. When something hit her in the face.

"What the hell?" she called, standing up and holding the tangerine up. She looked around and found that Luffy and Usopp were directly below her, Nami was in her chair, turning redder by the minute, and Zoro was now asleep in the shade.

"What are you doing with my tangerine!" Nami shouted up at her.

"It hit me in the face." she shouted back. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone standing in the shade of the trees.

Using her aiming skills she got from the circus, she wound up and took the pitch at Caleb's head.

He ducked and slipped and fell off the roof of the kitchen, causing a loud enough clatter that Sanji came out in his apron and spatula yelling, "What's going on out here?"

Luffy and Usopp were laughing hysterically below Mer and even Nami was giggling. Chopper was looking over his book, laughing, and Zoro was still asleep.

Caleb grabbed the tangerine off the deck and lobbed it right as Sanji was walking out from behind the wall. It smashed against his blond hair.

Mer, who was sitting on the railing around the nest fell back into the circular box she was laughing so hard. Luffy and Usopp were rolling around with Chopper and Nami was hidden behind her map, shaking with laughter.

Sanji silently swirled around to face Caleb with his eye completely blackened over. Little ghosts swirling around his head.

"Run Caleb!" Usopp managed to call and suddenly Caleb was gone.

"CALEB!" Sanji screamed and started running around the ship, looking for the little runner, who had taken refuge in the bathtub.

Sanji was looking well into the night.

So Caleb spent his first night on the Going Merry hidden in the bathtub, asleep for a little bit till he heard something and woke for another hour, thinking Sanji had finally found him and was about to kill him.

I-N-T-H-E-D-A-R-K-O-F-T-H-E-N-I-G-H-T

They had breakfast already docked at the new island of Sage. Caleb finally had come out of his hiding place around dawn, which was when they docked and Sanji was making breakfast. He was situated at the exact opposite side of the table from Mer. As far away as humanly possible while still at the same table. She was sitting beside Nami and Chopper and was eating in a mixture of types between Nami and Luffy. She cut her waffles, but devoured them quickly.

"I'll go shopping with you, Sanji." Mer offered quickly as Sanji walked over to the table with his own breakfast.

"You will, Mer-chan!" he said brightly, lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"Of course! I can help you get groceries. Than you can come with me for I need some new clothes."

Sanji melted like the butter on his toast.

Caleb found it rather disgusting.

Once they were all finished, they scattered, leaving Zoro on the ship.

Usopp went with Caleb.

"Where are we going?" Caleb asked Usopp as they walked down the busy street of the town.

"Dunno. Never been here before. Looking for a place where I can get more drawing stuff."

"Drawing stuff?" Caleb asked as he walked with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. You know the flag we got? I did that!"

"Really? That's cool." Caleb said as they kept walking.

They kept walking for a block in silence.

"So what's up with Mer?" Usopp asked, turning to Caleb as they walked.

Caleb shrugged, "I don't know. She's insane?"

"Not really. She's just eccentric. But I've never seen her hate someone so much like this since Dieux. He had enslaved her and she finally defeated him not a long time back."

"So I'm put on the same shelf as her former enslaver?" Caleb said, dead panning.

Usopp laughed, lightening the mood, "Looks like it! Sucks to be you!"

Caleb smiled and chuckled.

Over a few streets away, Mer and Sanji were still grocery shopping.

"What else do we need?" Mer asked as she and Sanji walked around the Market street with all the stalls and shops and such like that. And all the people in town, practically!

"Spices. I'm low on spices." Sanji said, looking around and finding one lone stall with the sign SPICES above it.

He and Mer walked over to see a little boy sitting on a stool behind the counter where all the spices sat below the counter on shelves. Mer and Sanji knew there were spices there becuase they could smell it twelve feet away.

The little boy smiled as they approached and said, "Hello! This is mine and mommy's Spice Stall! What would you like?" he asked with his big smile that Sanji only saw before in a mirror. This little boy had yellow blond hair that sat on his head loosely and fell into his dark eyes. He was wearing a pair of denim overall shorts with a white shirt on underneath. He had on big clonky black shoes that looked very sturdy as he sat with the bottoms of his feet together on the stool.

"You're cute!" Mer said, laughing because she thought he was so cute sitting there. Sanji just wanted his spices.

"Thank you!" the little boy said proudly, "So are you! You are very pretty!"

Mer giggled behind her hand as the little boy stared at her with a small smile on his face.

"Cress! What are you doing? Are you flirting with the customers again!" a woman said coming out from the building behind them, a smile on her face. She also had yellow blond hair, pulled back into a high ponytail. She had on a green short sleeved blouse and long black pants with the same kind of shoes the little boy was wearing on her feet, except her feet were small. She looked up at Sanji and Mer and said, "What can I get you?"

"Well!" Sanji started, placing his hand on the wooden counter and leaning in, suave like, "I would love everything!" he said, his eye a heart now.

"Oh Sanji, must you flirt with every girl you see?" Mer asked, her arms crossed, shaking her head. Her razored hair whipping around with every soft shake.

"Your name is Sanji?" the woman asked, pointing to Sanji.

"Why yes! Do you know of me, pretty lady?" Sanji asked, smiling suavely at her.

A small smirk fell upon the woman's face.

"Why yes! I believe I know my own brother!"

SMACK!

Sanji was now unconscious on the ground from his hand slipping at the shock of hearing the word 'brother' and he fell and hit his head hard on the wooden counter.

Mer looked up from Sanji's body in shock at the woman and said, "Wasn't expecting that!" with a smirk and a snort.

L-O-V-E-S-T-O-N-E-D

"-weird that you just picked him up like that!"

"It's a gift."

"That's weird. I've never met someone like that before."

"I know so many people like that. I worked in a circus full of them!"

"I've seen that circus!"

Sanji was hearing this conversation between two excited girls and wondered why they weren't talking about him. Then he recognized Mer's voice and knew who the other woman was. He grimaced.

"Oh look! He's awake!" he heard Mer said brightly and he opened his eye to see Mer sitting on the end of his bed, smiling at him, and the blond woman, his _sister, _standing in the middle of the small room with the little boy, Cress, nowhere to be seen.

"Where am I?" he asked, feeling his head and the large bump on his forehead at the hairline.

"You're in Saje's house." Mer replied. Saying Saje's name correctly. It was pronounced like the island they were on and the spice.

"Why? What happened?"

"You slipped and hit your head when I reminded you that I was your older sister!" Saje said with a small smirk, walking over to the bed.

"What room is this?" Sanji asked, looking around.

"This is actually Cress's room." Saje said.

"Cress... is he?"

"My son? Yes. He's five."

"So I have... have a _nephew_?" Sanji said, disgusted as if he just found out Zoro was his twin brother.

"Yep!" Mer said brightly.

"Why are you so excited?" Sanji asked her.

"I like family." Mer said calmly, still smiling lightly.

Sanji laid his head back against the soft pillow and let all this news hit him.

"Come on down, Sanji. I made supper." Saje said as she left the room.

He opened his eye to see Mer still staring at him.

"Let's go down to eat, Sanji. You should eat now so you have the strength to go back to the ship to the hungry crew. Especially Luffy." Mer said and stood up.

Sanji sat up and swung his legs over to the floor and stood up. Bracing himself for his least favourite thing in the world.

* * *

4-8-09

Yes. Saje is based off of my older sister, Ann. Ann was a very mean sister, but I love her anyway. Does that sound wrong? No! Of course not! ;D

SOnGtIme

Wonderful- from Wicked  
Tell Her This- Del Amitri  
Loved Ones and Leaving- Nicholas Hooper, The 5th Harry Potter Movie  
Breaking Free- from HSM  
In the Dark of the Night- from Anastasia  
Lovestoned- Justin Timberlake


	12. Battle for Saje

Ah HA!!!

Chapter Twelve

Sanji and Mer walked down the narrow staircase and into the kitchen where Saje and Cress were already. Cress was on the stool again, both of their backs to the doorway where Sanji and Mer were standing in. Cress was watching his mother intently as she chopped up carrots.

He caught Sanji and Mer in the corner of his eye. He smiled and said, "Hey! Look! It's my new Uncle!"

Sanji flinched at the sound of that. Mer patted his arm gently.

Saje turned around and it was just like their childhood all over again...

FLASH_BACK_

_Six-year-old Sanji was sitting in his grandmother's kitchen, crying._

"_Stop crying, Sanji!" his grandfather, white, use-to-be-blond, haired balding man of 80, yelled._

"_But! But she h-hurt me!" Sanji managed to say through the tears. _

_His grandmother, a black haired woman of 76, walked in with a cold damp cloth._

"_Stop yelling at him, Sangro!" she snapped at the overweight man with the bushy blond moustache. He harumphed and turned away. He never thought that a boy should cry. Whether he was kicked in the nuts or cut himself in the kitchen, never shed a tear. He was always disappointed in his grandson, who was constantly crying. _

"_There there, Sanji. What happened this time?" Sanji's grandmother, Senja, asked, putting the cool cloth on the new bruise and cut on his cheekbone just under his left eye._

"_S-s-Saje k-k-kicked me!" Sanji whimpered as the cool cloth was taken off of his new wound. _

"_Oh dear. That'll scar up. I'm sorry, lover." Senja said, putting the cloth back on the deep cut. "What did she kick you with?"_

"_Her shoe!"_

"_Sangro! Go get Saje!" Senja snapped at her husband, who got up slowly and grabbed his cane he liked to use to hit Sanji with when they were in the village and he wasn't nice to any girl or woman they met._

_Sangro came back in a few minutes later with the tall gangly girl of nine with her long stringy blond hair. _

"_Saje. Why did you kick Sanji... again?" Senja asked, her hands on her hips, barring down on her granddaughter._

_Saje looked around her wide body at Sanji sitting on the counter next to the sink, holding the cool cloth to his face, tear drying on his cheeks, his nose running because of the crying. _

"_He was annoying me." she said curtly._

_Senja sighed and said, "Saje! You can not kick him! Ever! Do you understand me?"_

_Saje's eyes narrowed, but she said, "Yes, grandmother."_

_Senja then took Saje by the hair and brought her out of the house._

_BACK_FLASH

Sanji blinked away the memory and touched the long gruesomescar that was still there underneath his eye. It was that day that he kept brushing his bangs that he grew out to cover that up. His grandmother Senja always said he was handsome boy and he knew that that scar would make him ugly... all because of his sister! That was also the last time he had seen Saje. He hadn't thought about her for a very long time.

"Hello, Saje." he said bitterly and she looked almost hurt by the way he said it, but gestured them over to the table anyways.

"We're having duck." Saje said, placing down the roasted bird onto the table and she sat beside Cress as Mer sat on her other side and Sanji across the small square table from his sister.

Mer was looking at Sanji out of the corner of her eye and he caught that. Somehow knowing that she was now listening to his thoughts.

'_I need to talk to Saje... alone.'_

Mer subtly nodded, which was just her moving her head down slightly. She looked away and to Cress, who was staring at his chopsticks as he had one in each hand.

"Hey, Cress! I was just in your room and I noticed there weren't any toys. Where were all they?" Mer asked Cress in a voice Sanji hadn't heard from her before this day. It was a light pleasant voice and she emphasized the questions and stuff like that.

Cress brightened up. "They were hidden! Wanna see my hiding spot?" Cress said, practically bouncing off the walls.

"Yeah!" Mer said loudly, excitedly.

"Cress. It's supper time!" Saje said commandingly.

"Let them go, Saje. I need to talk to you." Sanji said, thinking loudly, '_THANK YOU, MER!_'

She smiled at him as she left the room with Cress.

"What would you like to talk about, Sanji?" she asked, leaning back in her chair at the exact same time that he did.

"Just... the past thirteen years." Sanji said conversationally. In his mind he was imagining kicking his sister in the face. But Mer must have still been listening for the chopsticks he had in his hand slipped out and poked him in the leg, hard. "Where'd you go that day when grandmother pulled you out by your hair?"

Saje looked away when he said that.

"She... she sent me back to dad who threw me at the nearest cruise liner he could find for me to work there. Forever." she said bitterly at the end.

"Same for me, Saje."

Saje looked up and smiled, "Figured."

Seeing her smile made Sanji's eye narrow.

"Why do you have your hair over your eye?" Saje asked, looking at the blond hair.

"To hide the scar you gave me back when I was six." Sanji spat.

Saje flinched and said, "Sorry."

"Why did you kick me all those times when we were kids?"

"I was high strung when we were kids. I never liked that you got all the attention, especially from grandfather. And grandmother always was cooing over you like you were a baby, which you acted like one, so it annoyed me. I'm sorry I kicked you all those times. I couldn't control my own strength." she said shamefully.

The pitiful look on her face did it. Sanji couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't be mad at her forever.

"It's ok, Saje. Stop. You're starting to look pitiful."

She smirked.

There was a pause till Saje said, "So what's up with you and Mer? She didn't say much of anything about you two when we were talking?"

Sanji sighed lovingly, "Sadly, she's just a crewmate. We're both Pirates for Monkey D. Luffy."

"Straw Hat Luffy?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

"I've seen his Wanted poster a bunch of times. Cress thinks he looks funny." Saje said, shrugging.

"Oh yeah. Cress. What's the deal with Cress?"

"I'm his mother?" Saje said like Sanji was an idiot.

"You know what I mean! He's five, you said? What were you doing at seventeen?"

Saji growled at the mention of that. Sanji sat up stiffly, afraid of his sister still after all these years.

"I don't even want to talk about it. That story has to involve Cress's father and I'm _not _going into that." she snapped, "Got it?"

Sanji nodded swiftly.

"Good."

D-I-N-N-E-R-I-S-S-E-R-V-E-D

Sanji and Mer left Saje's house after nightfall and the lights were on everywhere and there were drunk people out.

"I like Saje! I like Cress, too! He's fun!" Mer said as they walked down the cobblestone street.

"Ehh." Sanji said.

Mer looked up at him and then looked forward again.

"I heard an interesting conversation, too. Seems you have a rocky relationship with your big sister."

Sanji growled.

"I didn't mean to listen!" she said, holding her hands up like she was holding something in each hand, "It just kept coming and I couldn't not listen! I'm sorry!"

"No, I'm not mad about that." Sanji cut in.

"Than what are you mad about?" Mer asked, hating to have to ask questions. She liked just knowing everything right off the bat when she looked at someone.

"I've always hated my sister."

"Oh come on! You can't possibly hate your sister!" Mer declared brightly.

"I do, though. She made my childhood hell."

"I do like the reason you keep your hair infront of your eye. But I still think you're handsome either way!"

"OH MER-CHAN!" Sanji cried, noodle dancing as Mer kept walking, shaking her head, smiling.

F-U-L-L-M-O-O-N

It was the dead of night and the town was finally calming down enough so that there were no people out on the street.

Thats when a ship started coming towards the town out of the darkness. The ship was painted black with black sails and the flag above it was all dark colours, but you could tell it was a skull and crossbones.

It sailed nearer and shot off one single cannon, hitting the building nearest to the docks.

The ship started shooting off more cannons and screams from the town started erupting everywhere as the people learned that they were being attacked.

The Straw Hats woke up at that, finally. Well, the girls did, at least.

"Nami? Was that an-" BOOOMMM!

"Yeah! That was an explosion!" Nami shouted and they both bolted out of bed in their pajamas, Nami in a green cami and grey cotton short shorts and Mer in a red cami and long red pajama pants with little penguins on them.

They ran out on deck to see the town up in blazes, people running everywhere, and a ship in the water shooting.

"Oh crap!" Mer yelled when Nami yelled, "WHERE ARE THE BOYS?"

Mer looked down and glared, "They're still asleep, Nami!"

"Go wake them up, Mer!" Nami shouted as she ran into the kitchen.

Mer shuddered and opened the trap door and slid in, landing silently on the floor. She could have landed like a cannon and they wouldn't have woken up.

She stayed where she was as she flipped all the hammocks so all the boys, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, Chopper, and Caleb, fell onto the floor.

"What the hell?"

"MER!"

"What's going on?"

"Is breakfast ready!?"

"GUYS!" Mer shouted, "THE TOWN'S UNDER ATTACK! GET UP! WE NEED TO DEFEND THE SHIP!" Mer screamed and hopped out of there before the boys could attack her.

They poked their heads out and quickly realized that Mer was right and all hopped out, still in their pajamas. Zoro in his pants with no shoes, Sanji in boxers, Caleb in a pair of old sweats, nothing else, Chopper in his clothes, Luffy in his red tanktop and jean shorts with no flipflops and he was putting his hat on, and Usopp in his overalls.

"Crap!" Sanji yelled, pulling his pants on and his shoes.

"Where are you going, you idiot!?" Zoro shouted after Sanji as he started running off the ship and into the flaming town.

Mer knew, but she was busy. She had never tried before to move water with her mind. It always seemd not solid enough for her to pick up like she did anything else that was solid.

She held out her hands and swung them towards the town, where a feeble wave broke over the docks.

"Frick!" she shouted as she sensed a cannonball.

She screamed as she fell to the deck as a cannonball went whizzing above her head, hitting the building on the land.

"MER!" Luffy yelled as Caleb appeared by Mer, dropping her down again and crouching over her as the mast was grazed by a cannonball and started snapping and fell over, splinters and chunks of wood hitting Caleb's back.

Luffy turned angrily towards the enemy ship and yelled, "Mer! Come here!"

Mer looked around Caleb's shoulder and pushed him away and ran up to Luffy, who wrapped his arm around her waist and shot his other at the ship, his hand latching to the railing of the stern, and he and Mer shot off like a rocket.

"What's going on?" Caleb yelled at Nami, who watched it happen.

"They're going to fight!"

Caleb snarled and was gone instantly.

H-O-W-T-O-S-A-V-E-A-L-I-F-E

Sanji ran as best he could through the throngs of people running around the street in terror as the pirates attacked their homes.

He managed to get to the house he was looking for and ran in, discarding every memory that blossomed up just by the smell of the place.

"SAJE! CRESS?" he yelled as soon as he got into the house.

"Uncle Sanji? Uncle Sanji!" he heard a small voice yell and he ran towards it, finding Cress in the kitchen under the table. He was hugging his knees to his chest and he was backed into the corner where he had pushed the table into.

"Cress! Where's your mom?" Sanji asked the little boy.

"I don't know!" he wailed, "She said she'd be back soon and told me to hide!"

"Damn it, Saje!" Sanji barked and extended his hand for Cress to take.

"Come on, Cress. I'll take you someplace safe." he said as the house shook violently and parts of the ceiling fell onto the table, causing Sanji to dive under it beside Cress, who was wailing.

"I'm scared!" he shouted up at Sanji, who had no experience with kids. The closest he'd come was Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper. But Cress was an actual 5-year-old kid who was petrified!

He swallowed hollowly and crawled back out, Cress in his arms.

"It'll be ok." he said and ran out of the house as another cannonball hit it.

Taking allys and side streets he made it back to the ship faster than if he would have taken the main drag, which was covered in people, alive and dead.

He jumped up to the deck and quickly passed Cress over to Nami, who took him, confused as to why.

"Where is everybody?" he yelled, only seeing Nami and Usopp.

"Luffy, Mer, and Caleb are on the ship over there and Zoro and Chopper are getting the ship ready to leave!" Nami shouted over all the noise.

Sanji didn't say anything, but was looking around frantically.

"Sanji? Who is this?" Nami asked, gesturing to Cress in her arms.

"That's my nephew." he said quickly as he ran over to the ropes and started climbing up to let the sail down.

"NEPHEW!?" Nami shouted back up at him.

S-K-U-L-L-A-N-D-C-R-O-S-S-B-O-N-E-S

"I didn't ASK you to help me!" Mer shouted as she kneed a guy in the gut.

"So you'd rather have gotten hurt than to have me help you? Is that it?" Caleb yelled back at her as he took a guy's sword out of his belt and blocked several different attacks, whipping them around into the ocean.

"YEAH! PRETTY MUCH!" Mer shouted, lifting herself up and pile driving a group of guys.

"STOP FIGHTING YOU TWO!" Luffy shouted, kicking a group of guys over the railing.

Mer grabbed a sword by the handle that was flying through the air (whether by her doing or if someone just threw it, they didn't know?) and started going towards Caleb, who also had a sword.

"Hey hey hey hey!" Luffy said, stepping in-between the two.

"STRAW HAT! YOU CAN NOT DEFEAT ME!"

Mer, Caleb, and Luffy looked up annoyed at the man holding the arm of a woman up several flights of stairs behind a railing.

Suddenly he was bent over double from the force of a mind kick in the gut.

Then he was on the floor from another punch that Caleb gave, not looking like he had moved at all, but just running so fast.

Then Luffy bolted himself up there and picked the man up by the collar, having him whimper for mercy.

"Hee hee hee! Not today!" he said and head butted the man into unconsciousness and threw him far out into the water.

"Shall I sink the ship, Luffy?" Mer yelled up to Luffy, who looked back as he was squatting on the railing and yelled, "If you want to."

"You're Straw Hat Luffy!" the woman asked.

Luffy looked down at her as she was laying on her back on the deck, resting on her elbows.

"Yep! Who are you?"

"My name's Saje!" she said, trying to get up, but fell back and Luffy looked down, seeing her shirt slashed open at the waist and blood seeping out.

"MER!" Luffy shouted up at Mer, who was just about to smash the ship.

"WHAT!?"

"I NEED HELP!"

N-U-M-B

The ship was moving at a steady pace in the dark of night.

Sanji and Chopper were standing in the infirmary over Saje, who was out cold. They could hear only the murmur of the fight going on up on deck. Caleb and Mer were still yelling at each other. The others had all gone back to sleep but weren't disturbed by the fight for the boys were snoring to loudly.

"They'll be ok, Sanji." Chopper reassured for the fourth time. Sanji looked over at the other bed where Cress was asleep.

"I know." he said finally.

"You better go get some sleep."

Sanji looked out the porthole and said, "I think I'd rather go start breakfast." he said and left slowly.

He walked into the kitchen to find Mer sitting there, her left hand holding her right wrist. She was flexing her fingers.

"Where's Caleb?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

"He went to bed." Mer said, still staring angrily at the wall infront of her.

"You didn't punch him, did you?" Sanji asked.

"I wouldn't do such a thing!" she said, mock scandalized.

"Yes, you would."

"I know." she said, slumping back on the bench, her eyes closed.

Before long, Sanji realized that Mer was asleep.

He sighed and started frying up bacon and sausage links. He hoped he wouldn't wake her.

* * *

4-9-09

It be done. I'm so glad that these chapters aren't taking as long as 10 did. That was a bitch.

SONgtiMe

Dinner is Served- Pirates 2  
Full Moon- The Black Ghosts  
How To Save A Life- The Fray  
Skull and Crossbones- Pirates 1  
Numb- Vitamin String Quartet


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